Critics Slam Oslo Museum's Security

"Some of our national treasures are given too little respect," wrote the Dagbladet newspaper in Norway. "It's almost as easy as robbing a newsstand," wrote the daily Aftenposten.

Both were, of course, referring to Sunday's armed robbery at the Edvard Munch Museum in Oslo, where thieves made away with two famous works by the artist including the world-famous "Scream" and a second painting titled "Madonna" before frightened visitors.

Both paintings were affixed to the museum's wall by wires that were supposed to trigger an alarm that would alert the nearby police precinct if moved. However, two museum visitors who were there at the time of the robbery told reporters they hadn't heard any alarm at the it "took 15 to 20 minutes before the police arrived."

Following the thefts, museum director Gunnar Soerensen announced he would conduct a review of the museum's security precautions and also consider the installation of metal detectors at the entrance. Meanwhile, Oslo's mayor, Erling Lae, praised the museum's security guards. "The guards found themselves in a very difficult situation. They conducted themselves very well and did a fantastic job," Lae told the Norwegian news agency NTB.

Fire and acts of God, but not theft

The paintings had been insured against damage but, due to their worth, not against theft. "The pictures were insured in case of fire or damage from water, but not for theft or burglary," said John Oeyaas of Oslo Forsikring, which is responsible for insuring the assets of the city of Oslo. "They are irreplaceable works and it makes no sense to insure them against theft," he said.

Some experts had speculated that as the works should be impossible to sell owing to their fame, it was possible the thieves had stolen them with the aim of blackmailing insurance companies.

The collection of the Munch Museum, which comprises 1,100 paintings, 3,000 drawings and 18,000 etchings, is insured for €61.2 million ($74.3 million), but experts believe that "The Scream" alone is worth that amount.

Others said the museum should have taken better precautions to protect the cultural heritage it houses. But the head of Oslo's National Museum, Sune Nordgren rejected suggestions that the museum should place its most precious artworks in hermetically sealed glass cabinets. "We cannot lock up our pieces of art because we want to show them to a large audience," Nordgren said.

The search continues

Meanwhile, police are continuing to comb the Norwegian capital looking for the thieves who made off with the famous paintings on Sunday. Stunned museum-goers watched as two men armed with handguns and dressed in dark clothing ripped the paintings from the wall before running out of the building to a waiting car.

"The Scream" is the most famous work by the gifted Norwegian painter and printmaker. It shows an anguished figure on a bridge with its head in its hands and is considered an icon of existential angst. Munch helped create the 20th-century European Expressionist movement.

Shock for the art world

Sunday's theft has shocked curators around the world, including those here in Germany. Max Hollein, director of the Schirn Kunsthalle in Frankfurt, described the theft to public radio broadcaster Deutschland Radio as a "shock" for the entire art world, adding that not every object can be protected behind bullet-proof glass. "That wasn't a simple case of theft," Hollein said. "That was armed robbery -- and that's something that has never happened before in this form."