Armed robbers stole The Scream and another masterpiece by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch yesterday in a bold daytime raid on an Oslo museum in front of dozens of terrified tourists.
Two masked robbers ran into the Munch Museum, threatened staff with a handgun and forced people to lie down before grabbing The Scream - an icon of existential angst showing a waif-like figure against a blood-red sky - and Madonna.
Some stunned visitors said they feared they were victims of a terror attack. The men simply walked out the front door - with one painting bumping on the ground - and escaped in a stolen black Audi car driven by a third man, police said.
Worth millions of dollars, the pictures are among Munch's best known, even though he produced several versions of both 1893 works.
Madonna shows a mysterious bare-breasted woman with flowing black hair.
"We're following all possible leads ... but we don't know who did this," said Chief Insp Kjell Pedersen. One of the thieves spoke during the robbery, in Norwegian.
The wooden frames of the paintings were found smashed and scattered along an Oslo street. The car was found abandoned a few miles away with no trace of the paintings.
Munch, a founder of modern expressionism, who lived from 1863 to 1944, painted the works as part of a series about love, angst and death.
Art experts speculated that the thieves might want a ransom because the works are too well known to be sold except to a reclusive collector. But, Insp Pedersen said: "We have heard nothing."
Police cordoned off the museum, informed Interpol and alerted airports and border crossings. No shots were fired but a woman guard was treated for shock. Up to 70 people were in the museum and perhaps 30 witnessed the robbery.
"I saw one of the men put a gun right behind a guard's head," said Mr Richard Marcus (63), a Texas businessman visiting Oslo. "It took a long time for the police to come."
Another, perhaps better known, version of The Scream was stolen from Norway's National Gallery when thieves broke a window and climbed in on the opening day of the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer in February 1994 .
A Norwegian art expert estimated The Scream stolen yesterday would fetch $60-$75 million at auction, and the Madonna $15 million.
- (Reuters)