Norway - The Scream famous painting worth millions just stolen

OSLO, Norway -- Police were waiting for a ransom demand today after thieves burst into a lightly guarded Oslo museum Sunday and snatched the Edvard Munch masterpiece ''The Scream'' from the walls as stunned visitors watched.

It was the second time in a decade that a version of the iconic ''Scream'' had been stolen from an Oslo museum.

The thieves, who fled by car, also grabbed ''Madonna,'' another priceless painting that along with ''The Scream'' is part of Munch's ''Frieze of Life'' series painted in 1893-94, depicting themes of sickness, death, anxiety and love.

The two or three thieves, wearing black masks, threatened an employee of the Munch Museum with a handgun before grabbing the paintings, easily snapping the wires that attached them to the wall.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-scream23.html

I also read this morning that there was no insurance on these paintings. Sheesh....

My favourite painting stolen!?!?!? I really wish I'd seen it whilst I was in Oslo....the gallery was closed when I was there.

No insurance on these works? Wow, does the Louvre have insurance?

Wasn't this stolen once before around the time of the Lillehammer Olympics?

There are four versions of this painting. The most famous version was stolen and returned....I forget the year.


I can't believe the museum underestimated the greed of man. Money is the root of all evil....well maybe power is too.

This is all over the news here in the UK..........you know what I can't believe? The painting was just held onto the wall by 2 thin wires!! Thats it........If thats not rubbish security I dont' know what is! I wonder if it was insured?!

OSLO, Norway (Reuters) -- "The Scream" and another stolen masterpiece by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch were recovered by police on Thursday, two years after gunmen seized the paintings from an Oslo museum.

"'The Scream' and 'Madonna' are now in police possession," police chief Iver Stensrud told a news conference. "The damage is much less than we could have feared."

He said the pictures were recovered on Thursday afternoon in "a successful police operation" and said no ransom had been paid.

"The Scream" is an icon of existential angst showing a terrified figure against a blood-red sky. "Madonna" shows a bare-breasted woman with long black hair.

Two masked gunmen walked into the Munch Museum in Oslo in August 2004 and yanked the two works from the walls in front of dozens of terrified tourists. They escaped in a car driven by another man.

The paintings are both from 1893. Three men were convicted in May of taking part in the theft and were sentenced to up to eight years in jail.

Two of them were ordered to pay $122 million in damages

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/08/31/paintings.recovered.reut/index.html

How fantastic-hopefully they will be displayed again so more people can enjoy them.

I've never understood people who want to own art like this-to me great art like "The Scream" should be displayed so everyone can enjoy it and appreciate it.