Edvard Munch’s The Scream was stolen (along with one other Munch painting), in broad daylight, off of the walls of the Munch Museum, in Oslo. There were other museum-goers there, many witnesses. The thieves apparently, in their haste to grab the paintings, smashed the frames.
What on earth will these guys be able to do with such world-famous and now world-famously STOLEN paintings? They can’t sell them, obviously. One of them will hang it in his cold-water-flat bathroom, and enjoy it in private? What else could they do with it?
I’m so disturbed by it. Maybe because I have an emotional connection with that painting, and always have. I don’t know. I want the damn thing to be found and returned. I feel like the painting is a living thing. I hope they keep it safe, for God’s sake.
Hold it for ransom or sell it to a private collector.
If I recall correctly, this is not first it has been stolen. The painting gets snatched every ten years or so.
j – there are four versions of this painting. One was stolen in 1994 from a different museum, where security was lax due to the Olympics. This one was a different version, stolen from the Munch Gallery by armed bandits.
In this case, it was almost certainly stolen for ransom. Weirdo recluse collectors would definitely object to these men’s methods of theft, so they were probably not hired. It would be nearly impossible to sell and on several occassions, thieves that have looked for a buyer post-robbery have almost invariably been turned in, so unless they’re incredibly stupid, they will not try to sell it. I can’t imagine that they’re profound art lovers, given their criminal stylings.
“…unless they’re incredibly stupid…”
Which, one must admit, is often a fairly big “unless” when it comes to criminals.
Thanks, I did not realize there were different versions of this painting. Learn something new everyday!
Actually, Dave, when it comes to art heists in general, you are talking about a much wiser and subtle class of criminal.
Sheila, I just posted about this a few days back. Someone in the know has written about just this topic here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/3590190.stm
I hope this is of use to you.
“I just posted about this” feels like improper grammar.
i dunno, to me this points out a real difference between the us and europe, especially scandinavians, and i’d like to stretch and ascribe it to the welfare state. think about it; the painting was stolen in broad daylight amongst a reasonable crowd of people…and no one did a thing. sound familiar? there was that politician there a few years ago, knifed in a crowded shopping mall shopping, same passivity. now imagine this occurring in the us…simply not possible, especially since september 11th, but frankly i don’t think it would have happened before, either. oh sure, 20 years ago, but not in the past 10. what turns these people into such sheep? the thought that everything is the government’s problem and responsibility.
Weirdo recluse collectors would definitely object to these men’s methods of theft, so they were probably not hired.
Why does it seem so far-fetched that some reclusive billionaire somewhere who just HAD to have The Scream (or one of them at least) as part of his collection couldn’t have hired the men to steal it for him?
That was the first explanation to pop into my head, and I haven’t seen anything that would lead me to believe it isn’t off to some island fortress in the South Pacific where it will hang in the master bedroom of Victor Dravos or Ernst Blofeld or some other misanthropic dilletante..
“i dunno, to me this points out a real difference between the us and europe, especially scandinavians…”
Mr. Bingley,
What a stupid, pompous, arrogant “American” thing to say.
Yes, I agree. This is a crying shame.
thanks lars
i see it hit home
Barry – simple. Because of the brutal way it was stolen.
It’s hanging in my garage right now. It’s for sale for $20 or will consider trade for comparable Monet or Picasso.
Pat – just keep Hudson’s skunk-scented nose away from it!
I agree with Barry. Reclusive billionaires who hire people to steal stuff have no control over methodology. Hell even top level mafiosi who contract with made men to do hits on pols get botched jobs (see Snake Persico vs. Rudy).
They do care about methodology. What those men did was sloppy. They could have easily have been caught. God knows what kind of trail they left behind handling the job the way they did. Seriously, these guys are the Jeff Gillooly and Shawn Eckardt of art heists.
OMG, a Nancy Kerrigan-Tonya Harding reference…and one that actually works, at that! Well, I suppose this is the Olympic season, even if it’s summer rather than winter. As for those skaters and their collective followings, one is inclined to repeat Henry Kissinger on the Iran-Iraq War: “can’t they both lose”? Saying so in Massachusetts at the time would, of course, have practically amounted to blasphemy against Saint Nancy.
Oh look, they found it. ;-) Since I’m nearby, maybe I could pick it up cheap:
http://borowitzreport.com/archive_rpt.asp?rec=940
Woah. Did the words “We were like, dude, we might as well go to Oslo, put on some black hoods and steal the real thing.” REALLY get said???
Uh, you DID realize that was a joke…right? ;-)
I mean, Andy Borowitz is the source of such breaking stories as Nader’s candidacy for President of Iraq and Saddam’s seach for the “real killers.” The “in other news” throwaway sentence or two at the bottom i something of a trademark, i.e., Scott Peterson scoring 35 points for the Lakers after his testimony or NASA announcing they’ve lost contact with Dennis Kucinich.
Never heard of Andy Borowitz – That is hysterical.
Read his archives. I promise you’ll laugh so hard it hurts.