愛德華．孟克

桑雅．赫尼-尼爾斯．安斯特，挪威奧斯陸（購於1954年）
揚．庫吉畫廊， 日內瓦
現有藏者家屬於1980年購自上述人士處

「愛德華．孟克」，克里斯蒂安那（奧斯陸舊名）， 布魯姆奎斯特藝術館， 1918年，無品號（稱 《Sommernat, billede fra Vestre Aker》
「愛德華．孟克，維也納藝術節」，維也納，維也納美術學院， 1959年，品號48 (1911年稱《Hofsalleen》)
「桑雅．赫尼-尼爾斯．安斯特之收藏」，倫敦，泰德藝廊、愛丁堡，蘇格蘭皇家學院、利物浦，沃克美術館、巴黎，巴黎市現代藝術博物館、斯圖加，沃爾滕堡國立美術館、法蘭克福，法蘭克福藝術協會、瑞士巴塞爾，巴塞爾美術館、維也納，藝術協會畫廊、荷蘭海牙，海牙市博物館、日內瓦，藝術歷史博物館與挪威卑爾根，卑爾根藝術館，1961-63年，品號 2 （稱 《Paths》，定為1914年作）
「專屬個人的熱情，法國現代與當代藝術的特別收藏」，巴黎，巴黎市現代藝術博物館，1995-96年，品號A25.4，圖錄附圖版（定為1914年作）

G. ．舒恩伯格，〈瑞士國內之展覽〉，《國際藝術》月刊，第VI / 2冊，1962年3月號，第74頁
格爾德． 沃爾，《愛德華．孟克所有繪畫專題目錄》， 第3冊，倫敦，2009年，品號1235，圖版頁1143

This work is in very good condition. The surface is rich and textured. There is small indentation in the surface in the blue pigment at upper right with a few associated pindot losses. A few pindot losses at upper left and in the male figure's right arm. Under UV light, a few small retouches in the reddish-brown pigment at the bottom of the field and one in the lower left corner, otherwise fine.
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In 1916, Munch purchased the estate of Ekely at Skøyen just outside Kristiania, present-day Oslo, where he lived for the remainder of his life. Ekely encompassed eleven acres of grounds including sweeping farmland and an elm forest. Sommernatt depicts Hofsalleen, the rural location close to Ekely where Munch frequently walked along the tree-lined roadway. This work is one of a series of picturesque views that Munch painted of the scenery in and around Ekely. According to Elizabeth Prelinger, "Ekely became for Munch what the villa and gardens at Giverny meant for the Impressionist painter Claude Monet: a rich source of inspiration for his art and nourishment for his soul" (E. Prelinger, After the Scream: The Late Paintings of Edvard Munch, Atlanta, 2001, p. 51).

In the present painting, Munch creates a dramatic composition out of a seemingly straightforward representation of nature. Although Munch in his later years had intentionally turned away from the emotionally charged self-expression of his earlier works, he typically infused his landscape paintings with deeper psychological content. Sommernatt is no exception; the rich contrasts, particularly between darkness and light, add a complexity and depth that evokes an atmosphere not of foreboding but of peace and calm, perhaps reflecting the tranquility in Munch's own life during this period.

The expressive use of contrast and form serves not only to render a certain atmosphere, but also to convey a particular mood.  In depicting nature in such a highly individual manner, Munch draws on the tradition of stemningsmaleri, or 'mood-painting', characteristic of Nordic art towards the end of the nineteenth century. Alongside his fellow Norwegian artists such as Harold Sohlberg and Halfdan Egedius, Munch abandoned the plein-air naturalism which had dominated Norwegian landscape painting, in favor of a resonant vision of nature. The artist himself proclaimed about his personal, expressive use of color: "One must paint from memory. Nature is merely the means. They want the painter to transmit information simply as if he were the camera. Whether or not a painting looks like that landscape is beside the point. Explaining a picture is impossible. The very reason it has been painted is because it cannot be explained any other way.... If one wishes to paint that first pale blue morning atmosphere that made such an impression, one cannot simply sit down, start at each object and paint them exactly as one sees them. They must be painted as they were when that motif made such a vivid impression" (quoted in Sue Prideaux, Edvard Munch: Behind the Scream, London, 2005, p. 201).