$34 MILLION IN ART GOES UP IN FLAMES WHEN FIRE IGNITES AT ARTIST’S HOME

Artist Rosemarie Trockel’s personal art collection, valued at around $34 million, was destroyed on Monday after a fire broke out at the German artist’s home in Cologne, the Kölnische Rundschau reports. The artist is currently on vacation, and was not home at the time.

A housekeeper had discovered the fire, which started in the basement. A spokesperson for the police said that even though the fire was contained to the lower level of the house the damage from the smoke was severe. The cause of the fire remains uncertain, but police believe it may have been an electrical fire. Art casualties include works by Andy Warhol as well as the sixty-three-year-old artist’s own sculptures. A spokesperson from Trockel’s gallery, Sprüth Magers, said, “We are relieved that nobody got hurt.”