Paal Enger, a rising prospect for a celebrated Norwegian soccer membership who traded a sport that he cherished for an additional — artwork theft — that he completely relished, culminating in his notorious 1994 heist of Edvard Munch’s masterpiece “The Scream,” died on June 29 in Oslo. He was 57.
His loss of life was confirmed by Nils Christian Nordhus, an Oslo-based lawyer who previously represented Mr. Enger. He didn’t present any extra particulars.
Mr. Enger, who was born in Oslo on March 26, 1967, rose from the junior system of Vaalerenga, a five-time champion of Norway’s top-level league, now generally known as Eliteserien, and in 1985 made his debut with the membership.
As a youth, he was a fan of the Argentine soccer star Diego Maradona. However his actual hero, in response to a 2021 profile in The Athletic, was Don Vito Corleone, the fictional crime boss performed by Marlon Brando in “The Godfather.” He was so immersed in Mafia lore that when he was 15, he flew to New York to see for himself the areas the place the Academy Award-winning “Godfather” movies have been shot.
By then, he was no stranger to the world of life outdoors the regulation. “I grew up in Tveita, on the east facet of Oslo, and other people there don’t have a lot cash,” he mentioned in an interview final 12 months with the British tabloid The Solar. “We began doing crime once we have been very younger and I discovered it thrilling. I carried on as a result of I loved it very a lot.”
Graduating from boosting sweet to cracking safes and blowing up automated teller machines with neighborhood mates, he proved a phenom in each athletics and crime.
His outlaw alter ego was no secret to his teammates, who observed that he threw away his tracksuits after each observe slightly than wash them, and that he incessantly confirmed up in luxurious vehicles that have been far past a teen’s funds. “I bear in mind as soon as he popped up with a BMW 735i,” one former teammate instructed The Athletic. “He appreciated to steal costly vehicles, there’s little question about it.”
Regardless of his style for larceny, most on the squad thought of him a mannequin teammate, whilst his pursuits past the regulation had him dwelling like a celebrity. “I did a lot crime in my 20s,” he instructed The Solar, “that I had all the things — vehicles, boats, cash, probably the most lovely girls in Oslo. However I needed extra.”
Particularly, he needed considered one of his nation’s crown jewels. “The Scream,” which has been known as Norway’s “Mona Lisa,” is likely one of the most recognizable — and reproduced — work on the earth.
Munch, recognized for haunting Expressionist work that explored themes like sexuality and insanity, truly made 4 variations of “The Scream,” two rendered in paint and two in pastel and crayon. The one one in non-public arms, an 1895 pastel, offered at public sale in 2012 for practically $120 million to the financier Leon Black.
Carrying emotional scars from his childhood with a violent stepfather, Mr. Enger discovered a kindred spirit within the agonized howling of the portray’s ghostly topic, an expression of private anguish in addition to a broader existential dread.
“My obsession with this image began the primary time I noticed it,” Mr. Enger mentioned in “The Man Who Stole ‘The Scream,’” a documentary launched final 12 months. “As quickly as I acquired near the image I acquired a rare feeling. Of tension. Unusual issues in my head. I had such an intense reference to ‘The Scream’ instantly. And it’s by no means left me.”
Having grown accustomed to only taking something he desired, he determined that the well-known portray needs to be no exception.
In 1988, Mr. Enger, accompanied by his good friend and longtime associate in crime Bjorn Grytdal, slipped by way of a window on the Munch Museum in Oslo to steal a model of “The Scream.” However a hitch of their plan led them as a substitute to grab one other Munch masterwork, “Love and Ache,” also called “Vampire.”
“The frustration lasted days,” Mr. Enger later recalled, “however then it began to grow to be enjoyable.” Partly, that was as a result of he stored the portray hidden within the ceiling of a pool corridor he owned that was frequented by off-duty law enforcement officials.
“They don’t understand it’s hanging only one meter from them,” he added. “That was the perfect feeling. We allow them to play without cost simply to have them there.”
The amusement ended when his confederate let phrase slip to a neighbor who was a police informant. Mr. Enger spent 4 years in jail for the theft, successfully ending any hope of soccer glory.
Even so, his ambition burned. He turned his sights again to his muse and quarry.
On Feb. 12, 1994, Norway’s consideration — together with appreciable regulation enforcement assets — was targeted on the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer.
Mr. Enger took benefit of the distraction. He and an confederate clambered up a ladder outdoors the Nationwide Gallery in Oslo, smashed a window and slipped in — and inside 50 seconds, The Athletic reported, slipped out with the museum’s model of “The Scream,” which on the time was valued at about $55 million.
The thieves left behind the ladder, their wire cutters and a word: “A thousand thanks in your poor safety.”
Given his historical past, Mr. Enger was an apparent suspect. Nonetheless, he knew that the police had nothing on him, so he started taunting them, calling with false leads.
“I don’t suppose I actually understood utterly how a lot it meant for the Nationwide Gallery, the police and everybody,” he later mentioned. “I made a idiot of them on nationwide TV.”
The stymied authorities finally reached out to Scotland Yard, which dispatched Charles Hill, a detective from its artwork and antiques unit, to Norway. Mr. Hill, posing as a consultant of the J. Paul Getty Museum in California, expressed curiosity in shopping for “The Scream” from an artwork supplier who was related to Mr. Enger.
Regardless of misgivings over the extremely unlikely situation {that a} prestigious museum would shell out for a stolen masterpiece, Mr. Enger dispatched Mr. Grytdal, considered one of his accomplices within the theft, to pursue a deal.
“I felt, Perhaps I’ve had it lengthy sufficient,” Mr. Enger later recalled. “Perhaps simply drop all these goals I had of the sport to return. I used to be completely positive the police had virtually no proof in opposition to me, so the one one they might arrest was Bjorn.”
That too proved a extremely unlikely situation. Three months after the theft, the police arrested Mr. Enger, Mr. Grytdal and two different accomplices.
Mr. Enger as soon as mentioned that he had “4 kids with 4 completely different moms from 4 international locations.” Info on survivors was not instantly obtainable.
In 1996, Mr. Enger was sentenced to 6 years and three months in jail, the place he took up portray, taking stylistic inspiration from his creative hero.
After his launch, he established an artwork profession of his personal. In 2011, his summary work have been exhibited at a gallery in Norway.
Nonetheless, he didn’t go clear. In 2015, he was charged with stealing 17 work from an Oslo gallery.
This isn’t to say that he was wholly averse to buying artwork by respectable means. In 2001, he purchased an unsigned Munch lithograph at public sale for about $3,000.
Leaving the public sale home that day, he bumped into the previous head of safety for the Nationwide Gallery. “Congratulations,” he instructed Mr. Enger. “It’s nice that you just’ve truly purchased a Munch — significantly better than stealing one.”
