[MSN] Not a whisper about stolen Scream. The theft of The Scream was an "attack on Norwegian culture" (EPA)

[Museum Security Network Mailinglist]

May 02, 2006 


Not a whisper about stolen Scream
By Anthony Browne
 
   
The theft of The Scream was an "attack on Norwegian culture" (EPA) 
  
IT IS one of the world’s most iconic images, the howl of a tortured soul
protesting against the modern world. 
But The Scream, painted by the Norwegian artist Edvard Munch, has for the
past six weeks been the ghostly star of a trial that has revealed the seamy
underbelly of a country hitherto seen as one of the most squeaky clean. 

A Norwegian court will deliver its verdict today on six men accused of being
involved in the theft of the masterpiece and another painting, Madonna, from
the Munch museum in Oslo. 
 
One of the most brazen daylight thefts, it was believed to have been ordered
by a notorious crime boss to distract investigators from another
multimillion-pound raid in which a policeman was killed. 

Like a murder trial without a body, the two paintings have been
conspicuously absent from the proceedings. Their whereabouts remain a
mystery despite an intense police hunt and $300,000 (£163,000) reward. They
were last seen wrapped in black plastic and rolled in carpets, stored in a
bus on a farm. 

The disappearance of the main cultural treasure in Norway has caused its
people deep angst. Terje Nyboe, the prosecutor, told the court that it was
“an attack on Norwegian culture and Norwegian history”. 

The Scream and Madonna, both painted in 1891, belong to Munch’s Frieze of
Life series, exploring sickness, death, anxiety and love. He painted four
versions of The Scream. The city of Oslo, which owns the paintings, will
demand $114 million in compensation from those convicted of the theft. 

The two paintings were taken on a Sunday morning in August 2004 when two
masked men carrying Smith & Wesson Magnums walked into the museum, tackled
four unarmed guards, ordered 80 visitors to lie on the floor and simply
ripped the works, frames and all, off the wall. They walked out and fled in
a black Audi. Then they sprayed the Audi with foam to obliterate
fingerprints, transferred to another car and disappeared. 

The police launched Norway’s largest surveillance operation, tapping 70,000
phone calls, and eventually tracked the thieves to a farm, where the
paintings were wrapped in a carpet on an abandoned bus. The farm’s owner,
Thomas Nataas, a racing driver, faces four years in jail for receiving
stolen property. 

Stian Skjold, one defendant, admitted to the court that he moved the
paintings from the bus to the boot of a car belonging to someone whom he did
not know. A covert police team witnessed the event, but did not realise what
was happening until too late. But, with the masterpieces too famous to sell
to any but the most shady of collectors, speculation has mounted about the
motive behind the raid. 

Police believe it was done on the orders of David Toska, a former national
chess competitor turned arms and drugs dealer. He is serving 19 years for
masterminding a raid to steal $10 million and killing a policeman four
months before the Munch theft. 

The police think that while on the run he ordered the theft to divert their
attention. They believe Toska knows the whereabouts of the painting and fear
he might use the knowledge to negotiate a lighter sentence. 

Björn Hoen, 37, accused of leading the robbery, faces 11 years in jail.
Petter Tharaldsen, 34, Petter Rosenvinge, 38, and Skjold, 30, face ten
years. Morten Hugo Johansen, 39, faces three years for providing the getaway
car. They all plead not guilty.

MISSING GEMS

Leonardo da Vinci’s Madonna of the Yarnwinder Stolen from Drumlanrig Castle,
Scotland, in 2003 

Van Gogh’s Portrait of Dr Gachet industrialist Ryoie Saito wanted to be
cremated with the work. He died in 1996 and it has not been seen since 

Dalí’s Crucifixion Donated by Dalí to a New York prison in 1965. Stolen
during a fire drill
 
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2160278,00.html