A recently auctioned version of Norwegian artist Edvard Munch’s most famous painting, “The Scream,” was grabbing lots more attention when it went on public display at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York this week. The man who reportedly now owns the painting, meanwhile, said he’d recently been in Oslo to see another version of it.
Leon Black still won’t confirm that he bought The Scream last spring, when Norwegian shipping heir Petter Olsen sold it at auction for a record amount. But Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) spotted Black at a reception to mark the opening MOMA’s Munch exhibit, and he told NRK he’d recently seen the Norwegian National Gallery’s version in Oslo.
He didn’t say much more, however, nor would MOMA curator Ann Temkin comment on the failure of Oslo city politicians to agree on a new museum to house the Munch collection it inherited from the artist upon his death in 1944.
“I won’t come with any advice on a new Munch Museum from this side of the Atlantic,” Temkin told newspaper Aftenposten.
A popular exhibit of Munch’s art from the Oslo collection called The Modern Eye that’s recently been on tour in Europe will go on display at Oslo’s Munch Museum next week. Queen Sonja will formally open the exhibit Tuesday afternoon, and it will open to the public from Wednesday October 31.
newsinenglish.no staff
