The thief he had a burning desire? Called America , the work in gold 18 carats with a value of several million euros, includes seat, bowl and flush operations. It was stolen Saturday at Blenheim palace, where she was exposed, causing major damage in this imposing baroque castle in the south of England, classified as world heritage by Unesco. It was still not found Sunday.
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«first, when I was woken up (…) with the new one, I thought it was a joke: who is stupid enough to steal a toilet? I had forgotten for a second that they were gold,» responded his creator, Maurizio Cattelan, in an email sent to the New York Times .
flagship Piece of the exhibition from Thursday to Maurizio Cattelan, the work allowed the visitors to relieve themselves in the toilet after you have booked a niche of three minutes. Exhibited for the first time between 2016 and 2017 for the Guggenheim museum in New York, this TOILET had been used by approximately 100,000 people.
Between 5 and 6 million dollars
America had been presented as egalitarian by the artist’s iconoclastic 58-year-old: «the art of the 1% for the other 99 percent,» in reference to the possession of the greater part of the planet’s wealth by a tiny share of the world’s population. «I want to be positive and think that this flight is a kind of action inspired by Robin hood, fictional character who stole from the rich to the poor, he commented.
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According to the director general of the Blenheim palace, Dominic Hare, toilets are estimated to be between 5 and 6 million ($4.5 million to 5.4 million euro), and not a million pounds-as previously reported in the british press. It has not excluded that they can be fused.
The thieves «were introduced by breaking into the palace during the night and left the scene around 04H50 (03H50 GMT)», police said in a press release. Investigators believe the thieves have used «at least two vehicles» to commit their mischief.
Dominic Hare has assured the BBC that the palace, birthplace of Winston Churchill, was equipped with a «sophisticated security system». But «we need to challenge», he admitted. «As the TOILET was connected to the plumbing system of the building, this has caused significant damage and flooding,» said the inspector Jesse Milne.
Not monitored
In August, the brother of the duke and founder of the Blenheim Art Foundation, Edward Spencer-Churchill, was told not to provide special monitoring for these toilets. «This will not be the easiest thing to steal,» he felt in the daily The Times. «first of All, it is connected to the plumbing. Then, a thief potential has no idea of who has used the toilet last, or what he has eaten. So no, I do not intend to keep».
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The castle should reopen Sunday after being closed to the public on Saturday. Designed by the british architect John Vanbrugh, it welcomes over a million visitors each year, according to its website. He had been offered by queen Anne to the first duke of Marlborough, after his victory against the French at the battle of Blenheim in 1704.
The WC had made about him when the american president Donald Trump had been offered on loan from the museum in new york, after that the curator had refused to make available to it a painting of Vincent Van Gogh, as requested by the White House.
british police said on Sunday to do «everything possible» to locate the TOILET. «We follow a number of tracks,» said the inspector Jess Milne in a press release.
The 66-year old man arrested Saturday and placed in custody has apparently not communicated to the place of the work of art To the visitors of the exhibition scheduled until October 27, the reunion with the work would, no doubt, full of relief.
