Gasp
August 22, 2004 7:01 AM   Subscribe

Armed Robbers Steal Munch's 'The Scream' in Oslo [more inside]
posted by bluedaniel (24 comments total)
 
I haven't a link to the story as of yet, I'm reading it on the AP wire (which is software I'd rather not cut and paste from) but here's a lick of it (though I suspect it'll make all news sources soon enough)...

"Armed robbers on Sunday stole a version of Norwegian artist Edvard Munch's "The Scream," regarded by many as his most important work and an icon of existentialist angst, from an Oslo museum.

In a dramatic daytime raid, two masked robbers forced an employee at the Munch Museum to take down a version of "The Scream" and another important work "Madonna" at gunpoint. They escaped from the scene in a car driven by a third man.

The pictures, worth millions of dollars, were cut from their frames which were found discarded and broken later in another part of the city.

"A female employee of the museum was threatened with a handgun and forced to take down two pictures," Hilde Walsoe, chief inspector at Oslo police station, said. "They took two paintings, 'The Scream' and 'Madonna."'

Police cordoned off the area, informed Interpol and alerted airports and border crossings in the hunt to track down the thieves who snatched the Munch masterpieces. A helicopter hovered around the area in search of clues to the getaway.

Art experts said Munch produced four versions of "The Scream." The stolen version consists of tempera and pastel on board. "
posted by bluedaniel at 7:02 AM on August 22, 2004


ScreamFilter: As I read now, it's on most news sites. Delete at will if appropriate.
posted by bluedaniel at 7:08 AM on August 22, 2004


googlenews.
posted by steef at 7:35 AM on August 22, 2004


This article is hilarious.
posted by josh at 7:50 AM on August 22, 2004


:O
posted by onlyconnect at 7:54 AM on August 22, 2004


Hmmm...Sueing for money, stealing art for money, selling post offices for money...Remember all those times you said "I'd pay to help keep MetaFilter safe and running more smoothly"? Here's your chance.
posted by Smart Dalek at 8:06 AM on August 22, 2004


Here's two words you're not likely to see together: Norwegian and security.
posted by tommasz at 8:18 AM on August 22, 2004


I'm breathless. And aghast. But I also can't stop giggling about josh's LNR article.

In the (more somber) spirit of the moment, I'll link to the Museum Security Network, which you nearly need a security pass to navigate, but which has some interesting pages (if you can find them), and this Interpol page of recently stolen works of art.
posted by taz at 8:20 AM on August 22, 2004


paintings at the munch museet site (slow as fjord formation). that "madonna" painting is fantastic.
posted by steef at 8:24 AM on August 22, 2004


Another robbery that I came across, when I visted. The robbery from 1990 is still unsolved.
posted by brent at 9:01 AM on August 22, 2004


I couldn't help but laugh reading the LNR article. Super find josh!
posted by riffola at 9:11 AM on August 22, 2004


Wow. Just now, google news doesn't have this on its opening page at all, which seems exceedingly strange. It was there a few minutes ago on the right-hand list of top stories at the top of the page. I wonder why?
posted by taz at 9:12 AM on August 22, 2004


They stole the story to cover their tracks, taz.
posted by Krrrlson at 9:25 AM on August 22, 2004


LOL, onlyconnect, LOL.
posted by NortonDC at 9:25 AM on August 22, 2004


www.armchairsubversive.com
posted by quonsar at 9:27 AM on August 22, 2004


We hope they will recover the paintings (and the thought of thugs, boxcutters and two great paintings is painful), but the Munch Museum still has about a thousand of Munch's paintings, 4000 drawings and 18,000 prints.

If you ever get to Oslo, go. It's a fabulous (and, of course, unsettling) experience.
posted by kozad at 10:10 AM on August 22, 2004



posted by Vidiot at 10:43 AM on August 22, 2004


Funny article josh:

Not much in the way of a security system stood in the way of the robbers, although a brave female security guard did her best to stop the raid by lying on the floor when asked to.

First up, police should go around to all the video stores and ask if anyone suspicious has rented The Thomas Crown Affair remake in the past week or so.
posted by bobo123 at 10:45 AM on August 22, 2004



Last known photo, taken with unnamed "companion"
posted by Peter H at 1:09 PM on August 22, 2004


Not funny: The fuckers cut the paintings from their frames. Bad, bad, bad.

Funny: onlyconnect's best use of emoticons since... ever.
posted by jokeefe at 1:14 PM on August 22, 2004


If I were paid enough, I'd be glad to go there and stand with my sleeve rolled up.
posted by MegoSteve at 9:18 PM on August 22, 2004


Now for sale on eBay...
posted by soundofsuburbia at 5:19 AM on August 23, 2004


Item location: Glasgow

Figures, doesn't it?

Surely stolen to order? It's not like it can be sold. What a shame...
posted by dmt at 8:03 AM on August 23, 2004


How long until that auction's pulled?
posted by bluedaniel at 9:30 AM on August 23, 2004


« Older Throw the Jew down the well   |   Sometimes An Elephant Is Just An Elephant Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments