12 December
Which is the most stolen painting worldwide? Arguably, Munch’s “The Scream”.
Edvard Munch, born on 12 December 1863, produced 4 versions of this now super famous subject: two paintings with tempera, and two drawings with pastel and crayon.
In 1994, the original 1983 painting was stolen from a museum in just one minute. Robbers smashed a window, jumped in and cut the painting from the wall using wire cutters. They then climbed out and sped off, leaving behind a “Thanks for the poor security!” note.
The painting was recovered in 1994. But again just a decade later, in 2004 two masked and armed men simply wandered up to the 1910 version at the Munch museum in Oslo and ripped it off the wall also using a wire cutter. Also this painting was luckily recovered in 2006.
Why this obsession? The opportunity, sure. The value also.
Edvard always wanted to become an artist. But his father did not agree, and directed him to studying engineering. It was not the same. So just after one year, Munch had the courage to move to Norwegian National Academy of Craft and Art Industry.
This is how he describes producing the subject: “one evening I was walking along a path, the city was on one side and the fjord below. I felt tired and ill. I stopped and looked out over the fjord – the sun was setting, and the clouds turning blood red. I sensed a scream passing through nature; it seemed to me that I heard the scream. I painted this picture, painted the clouds as actual blood. The colour shrieked. This became The Scream”.
For Munch the obsession was to produce art
