Edvard Munch government. Munch was 76 years old. With nearly an entire collection of his art in the second floor of his house, Munch lived in fear of a Nazi confiscation. Seventy-one of the paintings previously taken by the Nazis had been returned to Norway through purchase by collectors (the other eleven were never recovered), including "The Scream" and "The Sick Child", and they too were hidden from the Nazis. Munch died in his house at Ekely near Oslo on 23 January 1944, about a month after his 80th birthday. His Nazi-orchestrated funeral suggested to Norwegians that he was a Nazi sympathizer,
Sigurd Willoch director of the National Gallery of Norway from 1946 to 1973. He wrote considerably about Norwegian art and artists dating from the 19th century, including works about artists Olaf Isaachsen, Edvard Munch, Hugo Lous Mohr (1889–1970), August Cappelen (1827–1852) and Thomas Fearnley (1802–1842). He also produced works which focused on the Art Society in Oslo and the National Gallery of Norway. He served on the National Gallery Board 1952-76, was a member and sometimes chairman of the Norwegian unit of Scandinavian Museum Association 1946-71, Norwegian member of the Comité International d'Histoire de l'Art (CIHA) from 1958 to 1973 and represented