THE MAN WHO STOLE THE SCREAM
Born in Oslo, Pal grew up on the very violent Tveita estate on the edge of the city. Drugs and crime were rife. He had a tough upbringing with a very aggressive stepfather who beat him frequently.
On a school trip to an art gallery in the city centre, Pal saw Edvard Munch’s painting, ‘The Scream’. He became obsessed with it. He said the screaming figure reminded him of how he felt when he was being beaten.
After that, he visited the painting at least twice a week for years.
Pal was a very promising footballer, seeing the game as a way of escape. He joined the professional club, Valerenga FC.
He made three appearances for the first team, two in the Norwegian First Division and one in the UEFA Cup.
However by the time he became a professional footballer, Pal had already embarked on a life of crime.
Aged just sixteen, he had joined a criminal gang who robbed shops and ATMs (“but never drugs”) and received his first caution for profiteering.
His fellow footballers noticed he had very flash cars, high quality clothes and lots of money – far more than he was earning as part of their team. All of the players were part-time and had second jobs, except for Pal.
Suspicions increased when instead of driving his usual BMW, he turned up at the club driving a Porsche, claiming it to be the only one in Oslo. “I am the new David Beckham,” he proclaimed.
Unfortunately for him, two of his teammates were police officers. They suspected him of crime. A police search of his house found many stolen items.
“The football fell away, and the crime took over. The rewards became bigger and better. I wanted more. I always liked attention.”
At nineteen, his football career ground to a halt when he was sent to Ullersmo Prison.
At the age of twenty-one, Pal carried out an audacious theft from the Munch Museum in Oslo, breaking in through a window.
He had intended to steal ‘The Scream’, but his floor plans were wrong and he couldn’t locate the painting.
Instead, he stole Munch’s ‘Love and Pain’, which is often wrongly called ‘The Vampire’.
Pal later admitted that stealing the wrong painting was, “a disappointment that lasted days.”
He also admitted that he was addicted to plotting a crime, the danger of carrying it out and then the hiding afterwards, including the police investigation.
To console himself, he immediately carried out a robbery at the Tostrop jewellers shop in Oslo, stealing goods worth 4.8 million Norwegian Krone (approximately £350,ooo). Watches were his ‘speciality’.
When the search for the missing painting was being undertaken, his two former team-mates remembered his obsession with Edvard Munch. They got a search warrant for his house – and found ‘Love and Pain’ hanging on the wall.
He was convicted of trafficking and minor drug offences and served more time in prison. It was there that he devised a better plan for stealing ‘The Scream’.
On the 12th February 1994, he made his second attempt to get the painting. By now, it was housed in the National Gallery in Oslo.
He broke into the museum through a back window, accompanied by a friend. It only took them 50 seconds to steal ‘The Scream’ (valued at $55 million). Pal left a note behind, which said, ‘Thanks for the poor security’. The whole robbery was captured on CCTV.
It was not a better plan than before, just basically put a ladder against a window and break in. The only difference was that this time, he got the right window.
He had picked his time well. That very evening was the opening of the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer in Norway, and the whole country was affixed to its televisions.
He then hid the painting in his family home, in a secret compartment in the dining room table. The family ate lunch on it every day.
The police called in Charles Hill, a famous British art detective and Pal was quickly captured and the painting recovered – and he was back in a high-security prison, with a sentence of seven years.
Pal showed no remorse. He told the court, “I’m glad I had it in my possession for a few months. It was nice.”
However, Pal’s wife immediately divorced him.
Shortly afterwards, Pal escaped whilst on a prison outing. There was a high-profile search for him.
He absolutely infuriated the police when he went to a café frequented by celebrities, invited newspapers and television, and gave an interview where he admitted that he loved the media attention.
Pal also claimed that ‘The Scream’ would not have been as famous without him.
He was recaptured soon afterwards. A member of the public reported him to the police, finding it suspicious that a man was wearing sunglasses at night-time. When he was arrested, he was trying to buy a train ticket and was wearing a blonde wig.
In 2007, Pal used his time in prison to start painting himself. He started with animal pictures but quickly moved onto abstract works. He was good enough to have an exhibition of 45 paintings in Oslo in 2011. He also claimed he was the rightful successor to Edvard Munch.
Released from detention, Pal could not give up his old ways. In 2015, he was charged with having stolen seventeen paintings from the Fine Art Gallery in Oslo. Twelve of these were by his favourite artist, Hariton Pushwagner.
He was captured because he dropped a wallet at the crime scene which contained his ID card.
This was the only crime that Pal claimed he did not do. He said it was a set-up.
In Norway, there is a system where a criminal pays for his crimes. Pal owed 30 million Krone to insurance companies and to the state.
“I have never been anyone other than who I am now. I have nothing to fall back on. The last time I was out, I just stole for a living.”
An American television company offered to buy the rights to his story to make a TV series. The programme was never made.
Pal’s last conviction was for stealing a pair of socks and the sign from the top of a taxi.
In 2023, there was a documentary about Pal entitled, ‘The Man Who Stole the Scream’. In it, he said, “It wasn’t special until I stole it.”
He claimed he was solely responsible for the thousands of visitors the painting received each year – and said that Norway should be grateful to him.
However, he was not able to visit it himself as he was banned from the National Gallery (only allowed to see it again as part of the documentary).
He had four children by four different women.
Pal died suddenly in Oslo. He had eleven convictions and had spent twelve years in prison.
His lawyer called him, “A gentleman thief.”
The Norwegian police were less complimentary, calling him a “Hooligan and thief.”
His former football club, Valerenga FC, also put out a statement. They said, “Whilst he was not the best soccer player, he was the best criminal – so that’s the path he chose to take.”
RIP – Robber (and) Infamous Picture-thief
