madonna & the scream: two expressionist masterpieces stolen
edvard munch's iconic painting «skrik» (scream), one of the best known in the world, was stolen today along with his «madonna» from the munch museet in oslo. two masked raiders, one of which spoke in norwegian during the heist, barged into the museum late this morning. one threatened guards and patrons with a pistol and the other used wire cutters and ripped the paintings from the wall. they escaped in a stolen black audi getaway car driven by a third gang member.
these masterpieces are certainly too famous to be sold in the black market and so experts speculate they may be held for ransom. in 1994, as the winter olympics got underway in norway, thieves stole another version of «scream» from norway's national gallery. a ransom demand for a million dollars followed, the gang arrested three months later and the work was recovered undamaged from a hotel.
the munch museum also possesses a second «scream» while a third is at norway's national gallery and a fourth in private hands.
so... what happens to stolen art? and what about the greatest heists in art history?
seanw thank you for the alert! wish it'd been a hoax indeed!.
