HYLAND
next to a lobby window.
Ironic and clearly suffused with iconic American
cowboy swagger, Prince's lithography reflects The
Thief's live-large (very large), "Steal the Night, Steal Away
From The Everyday" ethos. It may also be viewed as a
sardonic allusion to The Scream's being stolen twice, and
is undeniably emblematic of the great American Frontier,
its boundless promise.
Only in this case the rags to riches hero is Norwegian,
a high-octane, remarkably-savvy personality who like The
Thief, goes against the grain of the country's traditional
conservatism, and speaks to an oil-rich future filled with
glitz, glamor, and audacious myth-making.
He's a down to earth, deeply-committed
environmentalist whose foundation supports "green,
sustainable planet" initiatives, yet he's al-so Mr. Jack Flash
bent on being a Top Gun aerialist, a biofuel, V-12 Ferrari
FF speedster, and in the tabloids with assorted daredevil
stunts. He's billionaire Petter Stordalen, another rock star
of sorts, who credits his ascent, as evident from the logo
of his philanthropic foundation, to strawberries.
Now the owner of 175 hotels, Stordalen began his
storied rise by selling strawberries outside his father's
pint-sized grocery store in Porsgrunn, Norway. He was
a born salesman, a likeable, gifted pro-moter, and later
in his twenties, he dressed up like a "Marlboro Man" at
a job interview and was soon working for a developer
of shopping malls. That path led to buying a 298-foot
yacht, a $5 million Moroccan wedding, his scooping up
hotels and numerous art pieces (The Thief's collection is
part his, while others are on loan from the Fearnley), and
