OSLO, Norway – Two stolen art works, The Scream and Madonna by Edvard Munch, will return at long last to the public eye, recovered after two years in absentia. Unlike Munch’s Scream, so many other tales of stolen art are never recovered. The Scream and Madonna were snatched off the wall in broad daylight by masked gunmen in front of a group of shocked visitors at the Munch Museum in Oslo on Aug. 22, 2004. Munch’s two recovered stolen art works are now confirmed genuine, The Scream and Madonna suffering little damage despite fears by the museum and art lovers all over the world. A “successful police action” on August 31, 2006 was responsible for recovery of the paintings according to Iver Stensrud, lead police inspector for the investigation. Executed in an Expressionist style, The Scream is Munch’s best known work. Both stolen art works were painted in 1893.
Brenda Harness, Art Historian