Smuggled Pop-Art: a work by Andy Warhol seized

A work by Andy Warhol was imported, with its worth being declared as a few hundred euros. The discovery was made by customs officials at Malpensa, who were examining a consignment from an art gallery in the United States.

The work is a copy of a limited edition of “Blackglama (Judy Garland)” (No. 27, of 30) by Andy Warhol, whose estimated value is €25,000. The poster, which has the artist’s signature in black felt-tip pen (see photo, right), was contained in a consignment, the declared value of which was $350. On suspecting that it was authentic, the Customs Office contacted the experts at the MAGA Museum (in Gallarate) and the Carabinieri concerned with protecting cultural heritage, based in Monza, who established the true value of the work. The supposed crime is smuggling, and at this point, the work was placed under preventive seizure, and left with the MAGA Museum, which acts as a specialised judicial deposit, and which, in the past, has kept works that had been seized because they had been smuggled or stolen.