Art...Imitating Life?

Munch called this "The Scream". It's always reminded me more of "Monday Morning", but I can go with Edvard's title, I suppose.

The original 'Scream' painting was stolen from an Oslo museum at gunpoint in August 2004 - a gutsy move, if you ask me. Sounds more like a movie plot than a heist. They still haven't found the painting, even though several guys are on trial for stealing it. I suspect it's probably in someone's safe, locked away where only they look at it when they feel the time is right.

I read a cool book a few years back - can't remember what it was called, but it really was good - about a master thief who goes around offering wealthy art collectors the chance to buy the absolute rarest of paintings, sight unseen. He won't tell them the title or any details, but he promises them that they'll know which painting it is the moment he takes it.

The price? $25 million. The painting? The Mona Lisa.

The catch is (SPOILER ALERT - if you happen to stumble across this gem) is that he's got an accomplice who is a master forger, and they've got a half dozen Mona Lisas in their basement. He swipes the real one, then sells the fakes to all the art collectors, who naturally hide it away in their private safes.

It really was a good book.

I wonder if that's what the thieves have done with the Scream. I wonder if there are a dozen or so rich snobs sitting behind 6 feet of cement and steel staring at their original Munch painting, thinking they've made the buy of a lifetime - one that they can't ever show anyone, can't brag about, and can't tell a soul about.

Hmmm...Maybe the novel needs a sequel.