The city of Maashorst has confirmed that 46 artworks, including a rare Andy Warhol silkscreen of Queen Beatrix, were likely discarded with the trash during the relocation of the former Uden town hall.
The artworks are now presumed permanently lost, the result of years of administrative mismanagement, inadequate oversight, and poor storage practices, according to Dutch Network Omroep Brabant.
An investigation commissioned by the municipality revealed that the artworks were improperly stored during the renovation of the town hall. The report indicated that several artworks were kept in rolling containers in the basement, where they were exposed to dust and water damage.
Among the most notable losses was the Warhol silkscreen of then-Princess Beatrix. The artwork, which was last seen in September 2023 with visible water damage, had vanished by October. “Somewhere during that period, the art must have ended up with the bulky waste,” said Mayor Hans van der Pas to Omroep Brabant. “You don’t treat valuable property this way. But it happened and we regret it deeply.”
The municipality filed a police report on the loss and hired an independent research firm to investigate. Their findings confirmed the suspicions of municipal officials: the missing artworks had likely been discarded as trash.
Anna Melnykova, "Palace of Labor (palats praci), architector I. Pretro, 1916", shot with analog Canon camera, 35 mm Fuji film in March 2022.
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