Thieves steal Munch painting in Oslo

A painted version of Edvard Munch's "History" (1911-16) is currently on display at Oslo University. Last night, thieves in Oslo stole a lithographic version of the work from a private gallery.

Scandinavian criminals just can’t seem to get enough of Edvard Munch. In 2004, masked gunmen stole two of the artist’s paintings from the Munch Museum, and, more recently, a Swedish dealer has been accused of selling forgeries of his work. Now Oslo dealer Pascal Nyborg says that thieves have made off with a Munch lithograph called History.

According to Nyborg, the culprits smashed the window of his gallery, Nyborgs Kunst, with a stone late Thursday, grabbed the painting, and fled. Police have found a getaway car, a large van, that was left abandoned in the city and have questioned witnesses who reported the break-in but have not yet made any arrests in the case.

Nyborg says that the hand-painted lithograph is worth “millions” of Norwegian kroner, and reports have pegged the work’s value at NOK 2 million ($355,000). At auction in 2001, the work sold for a more modest NOK 200,000 ($35,000).

The thieves in the 2004 burglary were eventually apprehended and sent to prison. Police and Nyborg are hoping to repeat that performance.

Source: ArtInfo.com