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Munch's Scream gets new date
15/05/2008 16:19 - (SA)
Oslo - Edvard Munch's expressionist masterpiece The Scream, until now believed to have been painted in 1893, has been assigned a new date, the Munch Museum said on Wednesday, refusing however to disclose more information until next week.
"We will announce the new date at a press conference next week. It's rather big news," museum spokesperson Jorun Christoffersen told AFP.
The Scream and another Munch masterpiece, Madonna, were damaged in a daring 2004 heist at the Munch Museum.
Police recovered the works in August 2006. They were scratched and torn and showed signs of humidity damage.
They have undergone a painstaking restoration process since then, and will go back on display at the Munch Museum on May 23.
Existential angst
The new date for the Scream painting will be revealed two days earlier, on May 21.
The work is perhaps the most famous expression of existential angst, depicting an individual on a bridge, hands clasped around the head and mouth wide open in an apparent yell of despair, against a backdrop of waves of red, yellow and black.
The humidity damage on The Scream will remain visible, Christoffersen said.
"There is a stain from water or liquid in one corner of the painting. The conservators didn't want to do anything that couldn't be reversed," she said, adding that new methods in the future may enable conservators to repair the humidity damage.
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South Africa
