Stolen Munch paintings worth £50m not insured
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The paintings by Edvard Munch that were stolen from a museum in Oslo on Sunday were not insured against theft.
The Scream and Madonna were taken at gunpoint from the Munch museum at 11am while visitors looked on. Another version of The Scream was stolen from Oslo's national gallery in February 1994, but recovered three months later.
The director of the Munch museum, Gunnar Soerensen, appealed to the robbers to "please take care of the paintings, no matter what else you do with them".
They were insured against fire and flood, but not robbery, said John Oyaas, managing director of the insurance company for the city of Oslo, which owns the Munch collection. The reason, he said, was that it was impossible to set a price on them. But he said the theft raised the question of security - "How can we make these artworks available to the public while still securing them?"
The lightly guarded Munch museum has silent alarms and security staff. But there was little that unarmed museum guards could do to stop robbers with guns.
In 2001, thieves raided neighbouring Sweden's national museum and cut down a self portrait by Rembrandt and two paintings by Renoir. Those paintings were hanging from steel wires, like the paintings in the Munch museum.
Jan Birkehorn, head of security at the national museum in Sweden, said it was almost impossible to make paintings theft-proof without ruining the experience for visitors.
"Should you put them inside security monitors with thick glass? I think the experience of looking at them would be lost," he said.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments