– 1994
Have
you seen this painting? The figure looks terrified! Who would want to
see this agonized face every day?
Apparently,
a lot of people. Recently one of the four versions of this iconic
painting by Edvard Munch was sold at auction for almost 120 million
dollars, the highest price ever paid for a painting in an
auction.
Not only that, the painting has been stolen two times in the last
few decades!
Today
is the anniversary of the 1994 recovery of the painting after the
first highly-publicized theft.
Munch
was a Norwegian artist, so the painting was displayed in Norway's
capital, Oslo. On February 22, 1994, the Winter Olympics opened in
Lillehammer, Norway; The Scream had
been moved down to the second floor of the National Gallery, a
prominent display of Norwegian pride for all the international
visitors who had come to see the Olympics. Amid the hubbub and
excitement of the Olympics, that day in February, the painting was
stolen. The thieves left a note that said, “Thanks for the poor
security.”
Of course, there were one
or two reporters around (this was, after all, the Olympic Games!),
and the theft made big international news. The thieves tried to
ransom the painting for one million dollars, but the gallery refused
to pay. Instead, Norwegian police worked with British police and
America's Getty Museum in creating a sting operation; on this date in
1994, three months after the theft, the police were able to find and
recover the painting—totally unharmed—and catch the four thieves.
 |
| There are many parodies of The Scream in pop culture. |
Another
version of The Scream
was stolen from a different Norwegian museum in 2004 and recovered
two years later. Right now, all four versions are safe and sound, with their owners.
KinderArt has a cool art project called “Things That Make Us Want to Scream.” There's even a link to a theory about why the sky in the painting is so red.
 |
| Many people have copied the painting with changes or additions, such as this version with headphones! |
Also
on this date:
Brahms's birthday
Tchaikovsky's birthday
Anniversary of the world premiere of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony
