Japanese firm donates cash to restore damaged Munch canvases

A Japanese firm has pledged more than $700,000 to help art restoration experts in Oslo repair Edvard Munch's masterpieces, The Scream and Madonna.

Japanese company Idemitsu Petroleum will donate four million Norwegian krone (about $710,800 Cdn) to Oslo's Munch Museum for research into and the conservation of the two famed Munch canvases, Oslo officials said Wednesday.

In the mid-1990s, Idemitsu donated 57 million Norwegian krone (about $10 million Cdn) towards the refurbishment of the museum and the construction of an extension, according to the company.

Founder Sazo Idemitsu had been a keen art collector and, in 1966, established the Idemitsu Museum in Tokyo to display some of his collection. In return for the company's support over the years, the Munch Museum has often lent its works for exhibitions at the Idemitsu, or other Tokyo museums or galleries.

Recovered paintings damaged

The two paintings were stolen in a brazen daylight robbery before museum staffers and visitors in August 2004. Police recovered them under mysterious circumstances two years later, following an extensive investigation.

When found, the canvases had suffered chips, scratches, punctures, tears and severe moisture damage. Experts have been working on repairing the priceless pieces since last year.

In April, an Oslo court sentenced three men to between five and nearly 10 years in prison for the theft of the two paintings. The trio was also sentenced to pay 1.57 million Norwegiankrone (nearly $300,000 Cdn) in damages to the city of Oslo, which owns the two paintings.

Munch, a leading figure among the early 20th century expressionist artists, created multiple versions of several of his works, including The Scream.

The original is in Oslo's National Gallery, while the recovered work considered the main reproduction and another copy rest in the Munch Museum's collection. A fourth is owned by a private collector.