Norwegian Police Recover Stolen Munch Masterpiece ‘The Scream’

Norway’s most famous painting, “The Scream” by Edvard Munch, was recovered Saturday, almost three months after it was stolen from an Oslo museum.

Police said the painting, which is on fragile paper, was recovered undamaged Saturday morning at a hotel in Asgardstrand, about 40 miles south of Oslo. Three Norwegians were arrested.

The recovery and arrests apparently were made in connection with an attempt to sell or ransom the painting, the Norwegian news agency NTB said.

Munch’s 1893 painting was stolen from the National Gallery in a break-in on Feb. 12, the opening day of the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer. The work depicts a waif-like figure, wide-mouthed in terror beneath a blood-red sky with two shadowy figures in the background.

During the 50-second break-in, which was recorded by a security camera, two thieves used a ladder to climb up to a museum window, broke in and emerged with the painting. They left behind a postcard that said: “Thanks for the poor security.”

“The Scream” has been used as the anguished symbol of a century scarred by two world wars, the Holocaust, the atom bomb and modern horrors such as the conflict in Bosnia.

The police refused to give details about their investigation or release the suspects’ names, in keeping with Norwegian practice.

A police spokeswoman said she could not exclude the possibility of more arrests.

Lief Lier, who led the investigation, said Norwegian police had asked the special art and antiquities unit of Scotland Yard in London for help.

The artist lived from 1863 to 1944.