Pål Enger never quite knew why he had to steal “The Scream”
The petty criminal and former footballer died on June 29th, aged 57
Some paintings are just too provoking. They have to be responded to. Picasso’s “Guernica”, a howl against war, with red paint; Velázquez’s shapely “Rokeby Venus” with a meat cleaver wielded by a cross suffragette; the infuriating smile of the “Mona Lisa” with almost anything (stones, cake, paint, a teacup, soup). And Edvard Munch’s “The Scream” with its swirling reds and blues and its anguished central figure, silently crying out, hands clamped over ears…? With plain removal.
This article appeared in the Obituary section of the print edition under the headline “Pål Enger”
From the July 13th 2024 edition
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