Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Arts & Entertainment
Man Says MoMA's Loaned "Scream" Has A Nazi Past
By
Jen Chung
Published Oct 14, 2012
Modified Oct 14, 2012
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Jen Chung
Published Oct 14, 2012
Modified Oct 14, 2012
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
A $120 million pastel version of Edvard Munch's iconic "The Scream" will be on display at the Museum of Modern Art next week for six months, exciting art connoisseurs, since the other three versions are in Norway. However, the descendant of a former owner of this version says that the Museum of Modern Art ought to divulge the painting's Nazi history.
Rafael Cardoso, the great-grandson of Berlin banker Hugo Simon who owned the piece in the 1920s and 1930s, told the Post that "his forbear had to sell the treasure when he was declared an enemy of the state and driven from Germany after the Nazis came to power in 1933," explaining, "He was living under direct threat to his life." A historian at the Holocaust Museum in DC confirmed that during that time, "Jews were giving up what they couldn’t hide," which is probably why Simon had consigned the piece to a Swiss gallery. The Post reports:
He and his family escaped to Paris. And when the Nazis invaded France in May 1940, they acquired fake passports and immigrated to Brazil, where he died in 1950.
The work wound up in the hands of a Norwegian shipbuilding family that hid it for five years in a barn after the Germans invaded Norway in 1940. The Nazis deemed it “degenerate” art and would have sold or destroyed it.
It’s unknown whether Simon was compensated for the sale of the work.
“The subject was never talked about by my grandparents, but we always knew they had been very rich and lost everything,” said Cardoso, who is now in Berlin researching Simon for a book.
Cardoso tried to contest sale ahead of the auction earlier this year, saying, "It is obvious that Hugo Simon has sold the painting under duress, probably under value." He said that the seller's owner, Petter Olsen, offered to donate $250,000 to a charity of his choice (but under Olsen's name, not even Simon's name), which prompted Cardoso to say, "If they had no ethical concerns, why [did] they [come] at all with the offer?"
The MoMA did not comment on the matter. The painting is being lent by MoMA trustee Leon Black, the billionaire financier who bought it.
Tagged
edvard munch
leon black
moma
museum of modern art
nazi
the scream
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE arts-entertainment
The hottest way to show you're an authentic New Yorker is… riding a Citi Bike?
Thanks to Dua Lipa, Kim Kardashian, Timothée Chalamet and more, the rideshare program is having a moment.
By
Lindsay Lee Wallace
Published Oct 8, 2026
Is NYC’s hottest attraction the free observation deck at 1 Centre Street?
If you're playing tourist in your own town, this is an in-demand option.
By
James Ramsay
Arts & Entertainment
Is NYC’s hottest attraction the free observation deck at 1 Centre Street?
If you're playing tourist in your own town, this is an in-demand option.
By
James Ramsay
What happens when NYC kids take lessons in rock music? Really good bands.
By
Jayson Greene
Inside a photographer's journey to visit every neighborhood in New York City
By
Sonia Rao
Banned books and Winnie the Pooh: October in NYC libraries
By
Alec Hamilton
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .