22.08.2004
OSLO - Armed robbers have stolen masterpieces by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch from a museum in Oslo and national radio said a version of "The Scream" was part of the haul.
Norwegian national radio NRK said on Sunday the paintings stolen from the Munch Museum included a version of the famous portrait of modern angst, and a version of another key work, "Madonna".
"I can confirm that there has been a robbery," an official at the Munch Museum said. Police declined to comment and the museum would not say which paintings were taken. The robbery happened around 0900 GMT (10am British time), NRK said.
Another and perhaps better-known version of "The Scream", a painting of a waiflike figure on a bridge, was stolen from Norway's National Gallery in a break-in on February 1994, on the opening day of the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer.
It was retrieved several months later and remains in that gallery.
Munch, who lived from 1863 to 1944 and who was a pioneer of modern expressionism, made several copies of his key works, including "The Scream".
***From: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/entertainmentstorydisplay.cfm?storyID=3586157&thesection=entertainment&thesubsection=arts&thesecondsubsection=general
