Stolen Munch paintings found safe

I mean, what's the point? It's not as though you can just turn around and sell it to another museum, and even private collectors would probably just call the cops on you. The few shady characters who would want the painting would offer a fraction of what it's worth, since it's hot. Art thievery just seems so stupid.

to some people!

It's not like thieves are very good at thinking about the consequences of their actions, anyway...

why not get into a line of thievery with a better cost/benefit ratio, y'know?

Steal antiquities that are valuable for their age, not their maker, for example.

Or better yet, rob a bank. In the words of John Dillenger, "that's where the money is."

We should shake some sense into those thieves!

It's one of the most attractive niches for criminals. I'm surprised a longtime DUer would think the rich are so scrupulous; there are tons of scumbags with money who'd like to have a masterpiece they can keep to themselves and gloat over in a private area. Stolen pieces of art often sit in wealthy homes for generations until either a "police action" occurs or some member of the family develops a conscience and returns the picture to authorities.

Some obscenely rich sheik or mobster or "Thomas Crown" type just wants to have it.

EOM

  Some persons have a relationship with art, especially great works of art, which elevates to or even transcends a religious connection. To some, a work of art can go beyond the appreciation of and into the realm of obsession.

  To those who have become obsessed by these works of art, merely viewing it in a museum will not do. They must posses this thing to be near it, to have access to it whenever they wish even if their possession of it is forever secret. They do not think like you and I, they are jealous lovers of a beauty betrothed to someone else.

  Art is powerful stuff. Some will do anything to obtain that which they feel speaks to their soul directly.

PB

“The paintings are moods, impressions of the life of the soul, and together they represent one aspect of the battle, between man and woman, that is called love.” ~Edvard Munch

Also, the Red Sky in the back of the Scream? Forensic art historians have determined (rather conclusively) that it was "actually there" due to the eruption of Krakatoa!

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/12/10/1070732277751.html

PB

that'll satisfy all but the most greedy of collectors.

No, I know how people actually seek out expensive originals, even if they're in museums. Let's face it: the Nazis seized many, many works of art--paintings, sculptures and everything else--from the Jewish people they sent to concentration camps and displayed them arrogantly in many SS Hqs and more. Some of it made it to Switzerland when the Nazis realized they might need to get out of Germany when the war turned against them, and huge caches of art were secreted away and still have yet to be found even now. To them, the whole point was to deprive the Jews of the treasures, not for any real love of the art itself.

Even today, wealthy, unscrupulous collectors will do just about anything to get hold of original art, including stealing it, and it's not always because of the art itself--it's simply the desire to possess it.

This kind of crime isn't likely to disappear any time soon--there will always be people who are willing to buy stolen art even if it's not exactly something they're going to be able to display where others can see it--a generation from now, few will know the provenance of the piece, and by then the heat will be off enough to drag it out and let the world see it. There are also not enough people who are informed enough about art to understand that very thing--someone looking at a piece on a wall might feel it's a copy, or a litho, or some other inexpensive replica. Few people will be knowledgeable enough to be suspicious.

Sorry, But I totally understand how someone could deperately want to have an original work.

There is NOTHING like the flow of the artists stokes and the knowledge that his own hand painted the image before you.

I could (and have) stared at great works for a very long time- you can almost taste them. Suffice it to say, I can be a pain in the ass at art museums....;-)

Think of it as a KIDNAPPING, not a theft, and it
starts to make much more $en$e.

the insurance company is the ONLY way to get anything remotely approaching 100% value for the stolen item, so that's the logical play.

now, the interesting thing is, to do that properly, you have to know who the insurer is, and possibly even, under what conditions they'll pay, etc. meaning, any insurance play almost has to have an inside source.

> Great news ... why do people steal hugely famous paintings anyway?

You install the stolen art in your secret undergound island lair.



Tesha

I missed them.

at the Munch Museum.

It still speaks to me today. Especially today.

although the police are puzzled by the fact that none of the #8's have been coloured in.

:spray:

n/t

:bounce:

Did anyone go to the Munch exhibit at the MOMA - pretty amazing!!!

>"why do people steal hugely famous paintings anyway?"

Greetings from Norway.
Actually there was a huge bank robbery in Norway a couple of months before the Munch robbery.

And what happened was : The police were closing in on the bank robbers. And so the mastermind behind the bankrobbery arranged the Munch robbery just to shake off the police.

But the bank robbers were taken. And the guys that he had do the Munch robbery were also taken.

So in the papers last week, you could read that this mastermind bankrobber was bargaining with the police : He would give them the paintings if they would give him better prison conditions.

That's interesting.

The police won´t give any comment on how the rescue(?) of the paintings came about.

But most people are assuming...

and wondering if the painting had been recovered. Glad it's safe!

For shorter sentence from people involved in the Nokas-robbery in Stavanger. Some time ago, this man - David Toska - offered to be bridge between the art-thieves and the police, to restore the paintings to the gallery. He's the leader of the gang robbing the Nokas site for app. $9 million in April 2004.


One policeman was shot dead, so the leader of the Norw. Police organization (Arne Johannesen) says the police won't accept any bargains. He such a good guy, this cop :-)


The Norw. tabloids have made the Toska-guy into a hero despite the killing of the cop, so I can sympathize with him.

"The Scream" always had a special place in my mind; I was distressed when it was stolen.

I seem to recall at least one prior theft.

And I always thought the painting should be retitled "George W. Bush is the Leader of the World's Only Superpower."

The Scream was stolen in '94 and recovered that same year. (There are two of them, BTW)
The other original of The Scream is the one that was stolen two years ago and just now recovered.

There are three other unrelated Munch works that were stolen in 2005 and recovered the next day.

Somebody's got a hard-on for Munch paintings, it would seem.