Munch masterpieces destroyed?

[baldguy]

The Munch masterpieces "The Scream" and "Madonna" have been incinerated, according to newspaper Dagbladet, citing criminal sources and a top secret police report.

The paper claimed Thursday that the paintings were destroyed in order to get rid of damning evidence as the police investigation closes in on the culprits behind the robbery.

more:
http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article1028548.ece

[freedom_to_read]

1. wow

that completely fucking sucks.

[johnfunk]

16. Unconscionable -- I'm against the death penalty...

... but in this case I'd make an exception and incinerate alive the thuggish enemies of culture who committed this crime. It makes me that angry.

[calimary]

19. I'm with you, my friend. I was an art major.

This is like - well, the looting of the Baghdad museums. Like the vandalism of the Pieta. Crimes against humanity, crimes against human history.

[Trajan]

2. How shocking ....

Let's hope it isnt true .....

Art means more than nearly everything ...

[youspeakmylanguage]

31. ...except clean water, healthy food, decent shelter, accessible healthcare

...a basic education, freedom from oppression...

Actually, "Art" is pretty far down the list.

[Fenris]

3. Er...which "Scream"?

I know he made several versions of it.

[Trajan]

5. Er .... The one that was stolen ? ...

I guess you dont mind if ONE is destroyed .... right ?

It's only one ........

[Fenris]

8. Whoa there, comrade. I was just asking if anyone knew which version.

[youspeakmylanguage]

30. What a nasty reply...

Fenris simply asked which version of the painting was stolen and possibly destroyed.

I know you might be upset by this (I know I am), but attacking someone irrationally is wrong.

[asthmaticeog]

6. I think it's the first version of the painting that went missing. n/t

[Fenris]

9. Thanks.

[bloom]

4. Seems like they should have been able

to find a way to leave them somewhere....


:grr:

[Robeson]

7. Yep. I agree.

[XemaSab]

10. The image of

"The Scream" going up in flames seems so... apt.

[KittyWampus]

11. Museums USUALLY Just Quietly Pay A "Reward" For Return Of Stolen Art

damned shame.

[Solly Mack]

12. how barbarous!

you don't burn art.

[damntexdem]

13. I don't believe in capital punishment.

But if the perpetrators happen somehow to get incinerated as the police close in, I won't be upset with that.

And it again shows that the coverup is the greater sin than the original crime.

[smirkymonkey]

14. Nooooooooooooo!

Seriously, I am so heartsick over this. What the fuck is wrong with people?

[valis]

18. Oh well... Plenty of reproductions....

[Ian David]

24. I have that painting on a pillow

When you sit on the pillow, it screams.

[flamingyouth]

15. That is just awful

Why??? :grr:

[valis]

17. isn't there more than one version of the Scream?

[Chicago Democrat]

22. Yes there are

but that one is gone now!!


Oh well...

[NYC]

20. Perhaps not?

Investigation leader Iver Stensrud of the Oslo police said he had no knowledge of the supposedly secret report acknowledging the destruction of the paintings.

"This is completely unknown to Oslo police. I basically have no comment and normally we do not use Dagbladet as a reliable source here at the Oslo police," Stensrud told NRK (Norwegian Broadcasting).

I hope not.

[architect359]

21. What the...?!

I hope that it is just a rumor and nothing more. I mirror the sentiments of the first posted reply - that would "completely fucking sucks"! It's bad enough that they were stolen but if they were burnt... that's just incomprehendable. If this was done (and we don't know for sure yet), but I feel that their names should be so publically associated with this crime that they'll never live it down.

[youspeakmylanguage]

34. I doubt people like this associate with other people who appreciate art...

...so I don't know how much shame they will actually feel. To them it was probably a valuable commodity to steal and then resell.

[Psephos]

23. Makes me grab my head, open my mouth, and screeeeeeam n/t

[daleo]

25. The details are sparse and may not hold up.

Bad as this might be, it is not even one thousandth as bad as losing the treasures of the Iraqi museums.

[SoCalDem]

26. It's probably hanging in a rich person's private collection

and will turn up later:)

In the meantime....

[daleo]

27. I also wonder if this is a cover story.

Unless there is forensic evidence (e.g. the actual painting, still identifiable) this may just be a diversion, so that a rich collector can enjoy his ill-gotten gains.

[SoCalDem]

28. Yep.. The police can stop looking, and he can "claim" it's a fake

and then when he dies, his heirs will want to auction it for gazillions, so they will have it authenticated..(if they "forget" it's stolen :)

[youspeakmylanguage]

29. "Madonna" was my favorite painting

I'm truly devastated...

[Minstrel Boy]

32. Something like this happened to me. Seriously.

In high school - like, 1978 - I fell out with a friend to whom I'd lent a valuable bootleg album. He came to school and said he'd accidently scratched it - would I like it back? I said No, you keep it, and he went away smirking. I knew he hadn't scratched it, but I also knew if I asked for it back, he would. So I let him keep it, and the karma. (And karma for a lot of things hit him hard.)

So no, the paintings haven't been incinerated. They grace the walls of a wealthy collector. Just don't ask for them back.

[youspeakmylanguage]

33. It reminded me of the Thomas Harris' novel _Red Dragon_

...when Dollarhyde literally ate William Blake's "Red Dragon" painting. Quite a horrifying scene.

[lies and propaganda]

35. NOOOOOO!

That is my favorite painting ever! I so wanted to stare at it at some point in my life. And why does the damned Dali museum have to be in awful Florida???

[Bridget Burke]

36. Dali in "awful" Florida?

Not that all of Florida is awful--but Dali did have his Fascist tendencies. Also, there's an enormous number of fake Dalis out there.

The Menil Collection has a fine selection of Surrealists (only one Dali) but it's located in Awful Houston!

http://menil.org

[leftofthedial]

37. Bastards