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Thieves Steal Munch in Norway

Courtesy Oslo University, Norway

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.

Published: November 13, 2009

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OSLO—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 two million kroner ($355,000). At auction in 2001, the work sold for a more modest 200,000 kroner ($35,000).

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

Read more at the Associated Press and Radio Netherlands.

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