Iran is divided between those seeking to embrace a Western way of life and the tradtionalists, writes Janine Di Giovanni

I CAN’T remember much from my formal education — just useful snippets: “Stony grey soil of Monaghan you burgled my bank of youth”; the stages of development of an oxbow lake; how long it takes for an oven to cool if the oven-door is left open; and the Hardness Index.

From art appreciation to a spell on the slopes, Arlene Harris made the most of what Oslo has to offer on a jam-packed budget trip.

Everyman, Cork

IT’S 8am.

Here's what some of the world's most iconic paintings would have looked like if only the artists used pizza as their medium.

‘Figure Writing Reflected in Mirror’ by Francis Bacon which made $44,882,500 at Sotheby’s New York last Thursday.

Andy Warhol’s Double Elvis sold for $37m (€28m) and works by Roy Lichtenstein and Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei broke their own records at Sotheby’s contemporary art sale.

Edvard Munch’s masterpiece, The Scream, one of the world’s most recognisable works of art, has sold for $120m (€91.28m) at Sotheby’s, setting a new record as the most expensive piece of art ever sold at auction.

One of the art world’s most recognisable images – Edvard Munch’s The Scream - sold for a record $119,922,500 (€90.94m) at auction in New York City.

Sotheby’s will offer the only privately owned version of Edvard Munch’s haunting work The Scream at an auction in New York on May 2, where it is expected to fetch more than $80m (€60m).

The country’s free galleries and museums welcomed almost 23,000 extra visitors through their doors last year, new figures showed today.

Thieves in Norway have stolen a rare Edvard Munch picture worth €239,000.

The Edvard Munch masterpieces, The Scream and Madonna, have been recovered two years after their theft, Oslo police announced today.

WITH politicians bolting for beaches and the peacock hats flying home yesterday evening, it was time to get down to business at the Galway Races.

Three men have been found guilty today in the theft of Edvard Munch masterpieces The Scream and Madonna, but the verdict left art lovers with a lingering mystery.

SIX men pleaded not guilty yesterday as they went on trial over the theft of Edvard Munch's masterpieces The Scream and Madonna, snatched from an Oslo museum 18 months ago.

Six people have been indicted in the August 2004 theft of the still-missing Edvard Munch masterpieces The Scream and Madonna, a Norwegian national prosecutor said today.

TWO Vincent Van Gogh paintings and works by Paul Cezanne and Leonardo da Vinci are among paintings worth €525 million that have made it on to an FBI most wanted list.

Experts in Norway said today they were convinced that a painting discovered in Germany is a previously unknown work by Norwegian master Edvard Munch.

Norwegian police have arrested a fifth suspect in the theft of Edvard Munch’s masterpieces The Scream and Madonna and said they may be closer to recovering the priceless paintings.

The city of Oslo offered a cash reward today for the return of Edvard Munch’s masterpieces The Scream and Madonna, which were stolen by gunmen in a brazen heist last August.

A 38-year-old man was ordered to be jailed for four weeks by the Oslo District Court, in Norway, today, while police investigate his alleged involvement in the theft of Edvard Munch’s masterpieces The Scream and Madonna.

Police in Norway denied a report today saying Edvard Munch’s stolen masterpieces The Scream and Madonna had been burned by thieves fearing police were closing in on them.

THREE works by the artist Edvard Munch were stolen from a hotel this weekend, the second theft of the renowned Norwegian’s art in less than seven months.

Three works of art by Norwegian master Edvard Munch – including a unique watercolour entitled Blue Dress – were recovered today, less than 24-hours after thieves stole them from the walls of a restaurant, police said.

Three works by renowned Norwegian artist Edvard Munch were stolen from a hotel in southern Norway, although no information was immediately available on their value, police said today.

One of two paintings by Edvard Munch stolen earlier this year was seriously damaged.

THE Munch Museum in Oslo reopened its doors yesterday, two days after a pair of world-famous paintings by artist Edvard Munch were stolen.

EXPERTS involved in the investigation of stolen art here have described as folklore the idea that those behind the theft of The Scream have a buyer prepared to pay millions to view the piece at leisure in a darkened basement.

A nationwide hunt was under way today for armed thieves who forced their way into a lightly guarded Oslo museum and ripped the Edvard Munch masterpiece The Scream and another painting from the wall as stunned visitors watched in shock.

Art experts were stunned today after one of the world’s most famous paintings was stolen at gunpoint in a €59m raid at a packed gallery in Oslo.

THE SCREAM is one of the world’s most recognisable paintings. Copies of the anguished expressionist work can be found in any major poster shop and it is even the name and symbol of a popular pub chain in Britain.

ARMED men stormed into an art museum yesterday, threatened staff at gunpoint and stole Edvard Munch's famous paintings The Scream and Madonna before the eyes of stunned museum-goers.

Edvard Munch’s famous painting The Scream and other tableaux were stolen from a Norway art museum today.