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KF5JRV > TODAY 07.05.19 14:22l 48 Lines 2379 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 35912_KF5JRV
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - May 07
Path: IW8PGT<CX2SA<N3HYM<KF5JRV
Sent: 190507/1215Z 35912@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA BPQ6.0.18
On May 7, 1994, Norway’s most famous painting, “The Screamö by Edvard
Munch, was recovered almost three months after it was stolen from a
museum in Oslo. The fragile painting was recovered undamaged at a hotel
in Asgardstrand, about 40 miles south of Oslo, police said.
The iconic 1893 painting of a waiflike figure on a bridge was stolen in
only 50 seconds during a break-in on February 12, the opening day of the
1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer. Two thieves broke through a window
of the National Gallery, cut a wire holding the painting to the wall and
left a note reading “Thousand thanks for the bad security!ö
A few days after the theft, a Norwegian anti-abortion group said it
could have the painting returned if Norwegian television showed an
anti-abortion film. The claim turned out to be false. The government
also received a $1 million ransom demand on March 3, but refused to pay
it due to a lack of proof that the demand was genuine.
Eventually, police found four pieces of the painting’s frame in
Nittedal, a suburb north of Oslo, and what may have been a cryptic
messages that the thieves wanted to discuss a ransom. Finally, in
January 1996, four men were convicted and sentenced in connection with
the theft. They included Paal Enger, who had been convicted in 1988 of
stealing Munch’s “The Vampireö in Oslo. Enger was sentenced this time to
six-and-a-half-years in prison. He escaped while on a field trip in
1999, and was captured 12 days later in a blond wig and dark sunglasses
trying to buy a train ticket to Copenhagen.
In August 2004, another version of “The Screamö was stolen along with
Munch’s “The Madonna,ö this time from the Munch Museum in Oslo. Three
men were convicted in connection with that theft in May 2006. Police
recovered both works in August with minor marks and tears. Yet another
version of “The Screamö remained in private hands and sold on May 2,
2012, for $119.9 million, becoming the most expensive work of art to
sell at auction.
Munch developed an emotionally charged style that served as an important
forerunner of the 20th century Expressionist movement. He painted “The
Screamö as part of his “Frieze of Lifeö series, in which sickness,
death, fear, love and melancholy are central themes. He died in January
1944 at the age of 81.
73 de Scott KF5JRV
Pmail: KF5JRV@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA
email: KF5JRV@GMAIL.COM
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