Pål Enger, Norwegian artwork thief behind famed 1994 heist of Munch’s ‘The Scream,’ lifeless at 57

HELSINKI (AP) — Pål Enger, a gifted Norwegian soccer participant turned celeb artwork thief who pulled off the sensational 1994 heist of Edvard Munch’s famed “The Scream” portray from the Nationwide Gallery in Oslo, has died. He was 57.

Tina Wulf, press officer at Vålerenga Fotball, an acclaimed Oslo soccer membership for which Enger performed as a youngster, advised The Related Press on Tuesday that he died Saturday night.

She was unable to offer info into the circumstances of his loss of life however stated he had been in contact with Vålerenga earlier this summer time. Citing household sources, Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet stated Enger died in Oslo.

Enger served his first jail sentence on the age of 19, earlier than he kicked off an extended string of artwork and jewellery thefts in 1988 when he climbed right into a window on the Munch Museum in Oslo and stole the artist’s portray “Love and Ache”.

Extra dramatically nonetheless, on Feb. 12, 1994 — the opening day of the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway — Enger managed to steal the “The Scream” from the Nationwide Gallery.

Within the 50-second theft, videotaped by a safety digital camera, two thieves climbed a ladder, broke a window and emerged with the portray, then valued at at the very least $55 million. They left a postcard saying: “Thanks for the poor safety.”

Information of the theft of the portray made headlines all over the world, and after his seize Enger turned an on the spot nationwide celeb in Norway with documentaries and a world tv sequence made from his story, together with the 2023 documentary “The Man Who Stole The Scream.”

The portray was recovered undamaged after Enger confessed that he had hidden it in a secret compartment positioned in a front room desk at his household’s house.

Enger was repeatedly convicted of artwork and different thefts and drug crimes over many years, and he continued to court docket media consideration. In 1999 he absconded whereas on an outing from a minimum-security jail and tormented police by turning up in a restaurant frequented by celebrities in Oslo and granting tv and newspaper interviews. He was later rearrested after attracting consideration by sporting sun shades late at evening.

Throughout a jail keep in 2007 he began portray himself — first animals and later summary motifs. He debuted as knowledgeable artist in 2011 with a sequence of summary work exhibited at a Norwegian gallery.

The self-confessed artwork aficionado did not cease stealing, nonetheless. In 2015, Enger was charged with stealing a complete of 17 work from a gallery in central Oslo. In accordance with Norwegian media, police arrested him after he left his pockets and ID card on the scene.

His former lawyer Nils Christian Nordhus, cited by Dagbladet, described Enger as a “gentleman” thief who “many will miss” in his house nation.

“Many individuals surprise how good a footballer Pål Enger may have grow to be if he had caught to a profession,” Vålerenga Fotball common supervisor Svein Graff stated, including that Enger had responded that he was not one of the best soccer participant however he was one of the best felony so he had chosen to comply with that profession.

“His relationship with regulation and order was well-known, and (Vålerenga) teammate and police officer Knut Arild Løberg caged him just a few instances,” Graff stated.

Enger was not married however advised newspaper VG in 2011 that he had “4 kids with 4 completely different moms from 4 nations.”