Edvard Munch

Deposited by Munch in Kunsthaus, Zurich (1931)
Galerie Flechtheim, Berlin & Düsseldorf
Oslo Auksjonsforretning (1940)
Thomas Olsen (purchased at the above sale)
Thence by descent to the present owner

Zurich, Kunsthaus; Bern, Kunsthalle & Basel, Kunsthalle, Edvard Munch in Züricher Kunsthaus, 1922, no. 69
Göteborg, Konsthall, Jubileumsutställingen, 1923, no. 177
Pittsburgh, Carnegie Institute; New York, Brooklyn Museum & San Francisco, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, International Exhibition of Paintings, 1927-28, no. 323
Edinburgh, 38th Annual Exhibition of the Society of Scottish Artists, 1931, no. 84
Bielefeld, Kunsthaus, Edvard Munch, 1931, no. 10
Frankfurt, Städelsche Kunstinstitut, Vom Abbild zum Sinnbild, 1931, no. 175
Zurich, Kunsthaus, Edvard Munch, Paul Gauguin, 1932, no. 20
Zurich, Kunsthaus, Munch, 1952, no. 66
Venice, XXVII Biennale Internazionale d’Arte (Norwegian Pavilion), 1954, no. 36
Munich, Haus der Kunst & Cologne, Wallraf Richartz-Museum, Edvard Munch, 1954, no. 91
Copenhagen, Kunstforeningen & Odense, Fyn Stiftmuseum, Edvard Munch, 1955, no. 56
Frankfurt, Kunstverein, Edvard Munch, 1962-63, no. 53
Schaffhausen, Museum zu Allerheiligen Schaffhausen, Edvard Munch, 1968, no. 80
Stockholm, Nationalmuseum, Höjdepunkter i norsk konst, 1968, no. 245
Kiel, Kunsthalle zu Kiel, Edvard Munch. Gemälde und Zeichnungen aus einer norwegischen Privatsammlung, 1979, no. 23, illustrated in colour in the catalogue

The Wave epitomises Munch's life-long fascination with the sea, which was one of the central subjects and key symbols of his art. Just like the German Expressionist artists often ventured away from the city to the Baltic coast, Munch painted many of his major works, including his pivotal Frieze of Life, on the coast at Åsgårdstrand and Hvitsten. Whilst his early landscapes usually mirror the artist’s mood, often with sombre or mystical undertones, his later treatment of this genre is a celebration of nature and its forces. In The Wave the regular undulations of the breakers beating against the coast convey the eternal rhythm of the sea, whilst the bright palette reveals Munch’s admiration for the art of Van Gogh.

The present work is closely related to a slightly smaller version of The Wave of 1921 (fig. 1), now in the collection of the Munch-museet in Oslo. Writing about the museum’s version, its director and chief curator, Arne Eggum commented that Munch ‘painted the sea which breaks against the beach in long waves in the small bay below the house. The way in which he creates a monumental work with a motif whose dimensions are fairly modest and intimate in geographical terms is typical of Munch’ (A. Eggum, Munch at the Munch Museum, Oslo, Oslo, 1998, p. 88).

Fig. 1, Edvard Munch, The Wave, 1921, oil on canvas, Munch-museet, Oslo