THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Thieves blew open the door of an art gallery in the southern Netherlands and stole two works from a famous series of screen prints by American pop artist Andy Warhol and left two more badly damaged in the street as they fled the scene of the botched heist, the gallery owner said Friday.
Mark Peet Visser said the thieves attempted to steal all four works from a 1985 Warhol series called “Reigning Queens,” which features portraits of the then-queens of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Denmark and Swaziland, a small landlocked kingdom in southern Africa which is now called Eswatini.
In a telephone interview, Visser said the heist early Friday at MPV Gallery in the town of Oisterwijk was captured on security cameras, and called it “amateurish.”
“The bomb attack was so violent that my entire building was destroyed” and nearby stores were also damaged, he said. "So they did that part of it well, too well actually. And then they ran to the car with the artworks and it turns out that they won't fit in the car. ... At that moment the works are ripped out of the frames and you also know that they are damaged beyond repair, because it is impossible to get them out undamaged.”
Visser declined to put a value on the four signed and numbered works, which he had planned to offer for sale as a set at an art fair in Amsterdam later this month.
The thieves got away with portraits of Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and Margrethe II of Denmark. The prints of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and Ntombi Tfwala, who is now known as the queen mother of Eswatini, were left on the street as the thieves fled, Visser said.
Police appealed for witnesses as forensic experts examined the badly damaged gallery on Friday.
People look at screen print depicting Queen Elizabeth II, one in a series of sixteen prints of four queens titled Reigning Queens, 1985, by Andy Warhol at museum Paleis Het Loo in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024, similar to a Warhol work stolen from a gallery in Oisterwijk, Netherlands, early Friday, Nov. 1, 2024.(AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Screen prints depicting Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, part of a series of sixteen prints of four queens titled Reigning Queens, 1985, by Andy Warhol at museum Paleis Het Loo in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024, similar to a Warhol work stolen from a gallery in Oisterwijk, Netherlands, early Friday, Nov. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
A man takes an image of a screen print depicting Queen Elizabeth II, one in a series of sixteen prints of four queens titled Reigning Queens, 1985, by Andy Warhol at museum Paleis Het Loo in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024, similar to a Warhol work stolen from a gallery in Oisterwijk, Netherlands, early Friday, Nov. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
DUBLIN (AP) — Injured tighthead prop Tadhg Furlong has been replaced by Finlay Bealham in the Ireland side facing New Zealand in the autumn test on Friday.
Furlong, a two-tour Lion, carried a hamstring strain into their training camp in Portugal and it hasn't healed.
“We'll take our time and hopefully he's back sooner rather than later,” coach Andy Farrell said on Wednesday.
Bealham has backup from Tom O'Toole.
Ireland was already shorn of another first-choice front-rower, hooker Dan Sheehan, but was boosted by Ronan Kelleher passing fit after an ankle issue a month ago put his availability in doubt. Rob Herring was the reserve hooker despite not having played since July.
Bealham was the only change to the pack which started against South Africa in Durban in July and upset the Springboks 25-24 to level the series. That was Ireland's last test.
No. 8 Caelan Doris continues as captain.
Backs Jamison Gibson-Park, Mack Hansen and Hugo Keenan have come in after missing that tour. Gibson-Park and Hansen were injured while Keenan was with Ireland sevens preparing for the Paris Olympics.
Hansen hasn't played for Ireland since the Rugby World Cup quarterfinal defeat to New Zealand a year ago in Paris because of a shoulder injury.
Inside center Bundee Aki was also back after being dropped for the second Springboks test.
The reserves include three centurions — Cian Healy, Peter O'Mahony, Conor Murray — and lock Iain Henderson, a two-tour Lion who missed the South Africa series.
O'Mahony confirmed his fitness from a hamstring injury only last weekend in a 40-minute shift for Munster against the All Blacks XV.
The backline cover included rookies Ciaran Frawley, who kicked two late winning drop goals in Durban, and Jamie Osborne.
Meanwhile, the All Blacks made two enforced changes after hooker Codie Taylor and flyhalf Beauden Barrett were concussed in the 24-22 win over England last Saturday at Twickenham.
As expected, Asafo Aumua starts after replacing Taylor in the first five minutes, and Damian McKenzie has the No. 10 jersey again after starting there in nine of 11 tests this year.
Hooker George Bell could make his third appearance off the bench and utility back Stephen Perofeta his seventh.
Ethan de Groot, their main loosehead this year, missed out again. He wasn't picked against England due to breaching unspecified team protocols but the All Blacks said he'd be available to play Ireland.
Lineups:
Ireland: Hugo Keenan, Mack Hansen, Garry Ringrose, Bundee Aki, James Lowe, Jack Crowley, Jamison Gibson-Park; Caelan Doris (captain), Josh van der Flier, Tadhg Beirne, James Ryan, Joe McCarthy, Finlay Bealham, Ronan Kelleher, Andrew Porter. Reserves: Rob Herring, Cian Healy, Tom O'Toole, Iain Henderson, Peter O'Mahony, Conor Murray, Ciaran Frawley, Jamie Osborne.
New Zealand: Will Jordan, Mark Tele'a, Rieko Ioane, Jordie Barrett, Caleb Clarke, Damian McKenzie, Cortez Ratima; Ardie Savea, Sam Cane, Wallace Sititi, Tupou Vaa'i, Scott Barrett (captain), Tyrel Lomax, Asafo Aumua, Tamaiti Williams. Reserves: George Bell, Ofa Tu'ungafasi, Pasilio Tosi, Patrick Tuipulotu, Samipeni Finau, Cam Roigard, Anton Lienert-Brown, Stephen Perofeta.
AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
New Zealand's Damian McKenzie attempts to break a tackle during a rugby test match between the All Blacks and Japan at Nissan Stadium in Yokohama, near Tokyo, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)
New Zealand's Asafo Aumua takes part in a team run at The Lensbury Resort, Teddington, England, Friday Nov. 1, 2024. (John Walton/PA via AP)
FILE - South Africa's Pieter-Steph du Toit, left, battles for the ball with Ireland's Cian Healy, second from right, and his teammate, Finlay Bealham, during a rugby test match between South Africa and Ireland at Kings Park stadium in Durban, South Africa, July 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe, File)
