Edvard Munch was spending his summer vacation at the seaside near Christiania soon to become Oslo. Artists gather here and play the great game of life. In 1891, aged 28, Edvard watches his 21-year-old friend Jappe who becomes madly in love with a married woman ten years his senior.
The woman finally discards her lover. Such a story is not uncommon. Edvard views Jappe's despair as a mirror of his own affair with another girl a few years earlier. Eager to express extreme feelings, Edvard begins a series of paintings on the theme of Melankoli. We do not know if Edvard's creativity comforted Jappe but their friendship survived.
In 1895 and 1896 Edvard collected his most significant pictures to prepare engravings. The lines are in conformity with the paintings but the colors vary from one copy to another, certainly for the use of the artist himself who finds by such a process an easy way to master the emotional impact.
On October 23 in New York, Sotheby's sells Evening - Melancholy I realized in 1896, lot 95 estimated $ 850K. The woodcut print 38 x 46 cm was made from two blocks. This copy in black, gray and ocher is particularly gloomy. A more gentle copy was sold for £ 960K including premium by Sotheby's on September 17, 2013.
In 1902 Munch realized a new series in the same size, titled Melancholy III. The left-right composition is inverted from the 1896 version but in conformance with the original painting. A copy was sold for $ 420K including premium by Sotheby's on November 1, 2007. Another one is estimated $ 300K in the same sale as above on October 23, lot 84.
RESULTS INCLUDING PREMIUM :
Evening Melancholy : $ 610K
Melancholy III : $ 470K
The woman finally discards her lover. Such a story is not uncommon. Edvard views Jappe's despair as a mirror of his own affair with another girl a few years earlier. Eager to express extreme feelings, Edvard begins a series of paintings on the theme of Melankoli. We do not know if Edvard's creativity comforted Jappe but their friendship survived.
In 1895 and 1896 Edvard collected his most significant pictures to prepare engravings. The lines are in conformity with the paintings but the colors vary from one copy to another, certainly for the use of the artist himself who finds by such a process an easy way to master the emotional impact.
On October 23 in New York, Sotheby's sells Evening - Melancholy I realized in 1896, lot 95 estimated $ 850K. The woodcut print 38 x 46 cm was made from two blocks. This copy in black, gray and ocher is particularly gloomy. A more gentle copy was sold for £ 960K including premium by Sotheby's on September 17, 2013.
In 1902 Munch realized a new series in the same size, titled Melancholy III. The left-right composition is inverted from the 1896 version but in conformance with the original painting. A copy was sold for $ 420K including premium by Sotheby's on November 1, 2007. Another one is estimated $ 300K in the same sale as above on October 23, lot 84.
RESULTS INCLUDING PREMIUM :
Evening Melancholy : $ 610K
Melancholy III : $ 470K
@Sothebys Sale of Important Prints & Multiples of @cathywoodard & @NelsonBlitz, #NewYork,Oct 23 & 24https://t.co/QL41A6LWIe#Blouin_Artinfo pic.twitter.com/4RYKMC5KYR
— BLOUIN ARTINFO (@artinfodotcom) October 18, 2017
RSS Feed
