New Transparency: Revealing the Damaged Munchs

The Munch Museum in Oslo will publicly display the recently recovered “The Scream” and “Madonna” before repairs of any theft-related damage are performed. This from Bloomberg reporter Beate Evensen:
The museum, the city and the police decided to display the paintings because of “the great interest in the paintings and their condition after the robbery, and the fact that it will take some time before they can be displayed again after conservation,” the museum said in the statement.
Reuters describes the damage in more detail. It also claims that a photo of the damage is on the Munch Museum’s website, but I could not find it. The museum has not yet said exactly when the paintings will be back on its walls.
The museum’s action departs from standard practice of not showing works with unrepaired damage. Especially given the extraordinary public interest in what happened to these iconic paintings, this is a laudably open approach. The Munch Museum would do well to accompany the display with an explanation of the nature of the damage and how it will be repaired.