Unique Munch appears in Geilo

Anxiety by Munch

A unique collection of fifty of Edvard Munch’s art is first shown to the public, and organized by a private collector.

Geilo brought obscure treasures to light. Pål Gundersen show off their own private collection of Munch at the Vestlia hotel.

“What is special about this collection is that it is so concentrated with what appears as Munch’s main production, from 1895 with “Self Portrait with Arm Bone” to “Sick Girl,” “Anxiety” and “Melancholy”, says art historian Ina Johannessen, who has written the book on Gundersen Munch collection.

“The number and varieties makes me think this is one of the finest and strongest private collections, ” says Johannessen.

Unexpected opportunity in 2008

The collection is still relatively young. Gundersen began collecting Munch in 1992, when he bought his first painting in Stockholm. But two years ago, in 2008, appeared a very special opportunity.

Gundersen came across a large, unsorted collection that had been purchased through a series of auctions for some years more than 30 years ago.

According to Johannessen was that despite the rumors that went by, few people knew about the collection, and even fewer who knew the contents of the unique collection.

The former owner died before he ordered the pictures that were in stock. For Paul Gundersen was a special experience to visit the large storage room without windows abroad.

“It was absolutely indescribable. I was still long, I did not really what I saw.”

Complete Collection

“I am very pleased, we’ve made book too, because we got the goal in a strange and unexpected way, ” says Gundersen who consider the collection complete.

Together with Ina Johannessen, he picked out a selection of lithographs and woodcuts that are now displayed to the public for the first time. Several of the pictures are different versions of the same motif.

“Munch worked on several subjects over several years, and many times it is obvious that he has applied various moods and atmospheres in their photos, and we want the audience to be able to see, ” said Johannessen, indicating that there was also something Munch himself in his time did.

Two copies

Many of the pictures have been bought on the private market, outside the public auctions. Two of the works Gundersen owns, there is only an equivalent copy of, owned by the Munch Museum in Oslo. Gundersen versions were brought home to Norway before the warp in 2008.

At Gundersen hand colored version of “Scream”, one can still see the finger prints of Munch by hand coloring where he used an orange color.

The title and a small verse in the picture is written in German because the picture was in Germany. Munch Museum’s version of the same image comes from Edvard Munch’s own collection.

Stamped items

The other rare and unique image is a woodcut of “Anxiety”, printed in black in Paris, where Munch started with woodcut art. The picture has since been hand colored.

“The characters are more or less the same “Evening on Karl Johan, and the landscape reminds very much of” Scream. ” Here he has in a way compiled two previously known works, “says Johannessen.

The picture is dated 1896, numbered as number two, and in addition it has a stamp that says something special about the ownership history of the image, indicating that the image at one time was owned by German collector Heinrich stiff, who lived at the same time Munch .

“It is said that he had one of Europe’s finest collections of prints, and that he left their mark on the very finest pictures in its collection.”

Source: NRK