The Scream

I suppose you’ve heard that Edvard Munch’s The Scream has been found. There’s some irony in all that, but this is just one of thousands of works of art that are missing from their rightful places. It has been claimed that virtually every great art collection on earth has at least one work of art pilfered by the Nazi’s during WW # 2. In Iraq 1000’s of year of antiquities were stolen from museum vaults when the Americans were too busy liberating Iraq to protect it. Owning great works of art has gotten to the point that it has become a liability. Keeping it in vaults is self-defeatist but the cost of security for public display is getting prohibitive. Most of the great collections are uninsurable as they are considered priceless and no one will underwrite them nor could even governments afford the premiums.

Getting back to The Scream; the work that has just been restored is one of several copies produced by Munch himself which begs the question of what is an original work of art. Today many artists produce 10’s and even 100’s of thousands of “limited editon” prints of their works so that ordinary people such as you and I can afford them. In this age of computers art can be produced electronically so that the original exists only in binary form. The issue is further clouded by art restoration—for example, the controversy surrounding the Sistine Chapel—what about those famous figleafs? Furthermore the painting you’re looking at in many galleries today is often a faithful reproduction, the original being considered too valuable to be put on public display. As well do you really think the great masters actually painted every square inch of the vast catogues of art attributed to them. Putting aside the issue of fakes and forgeries most great artists have had students and it was their task and assignment to finish the master’s work by putting in the background details. In a similar vein, is it any less a Wagner Opera if the orchestration of the various parts in the score was left to underlings. It would seem that little has changed through the ages except the techniques.

Alas I can only add my perspective to the questions; I don’t think there are any true answers. If a work of art pleases you and you can afford it, buy it. I wouldn’t have the Scream on my walls even if I could afford it.