Edvard Munch 1863-1944

The very rare woodcut printed in pale green, black, orange and yellow from three blocks, 1899, Woll's III state of VIII, signed in pencil, printed by the artist or Nielsen, 1917, on wove paper, with margins, in good condition apart from very slight paper discoloration, a continuous flattened crease along extreme edges of sheet, four paper losses at tips, some associated small nicks, very slight cockling

This important woodcut is a wonderful example of Munch using his Jigsaw technique. The sea the shore and the female figure form three parts and each part has been inked separately.  The blocks have then been assembled like a jigsaw puzzle and then printed.

However, his mastery of this technique can be seen as far more than a mere signifier of his technical virtuosity. In this print the two figures stand isolated from one another; their compositional distance is given an emotional charge by their actual separation, as two distinct pieces of a single block. They stand in a fragmented landscape where land is cut off from sea. The line of the division includes the figure of the man, indicating his place in the earthly domain. The figure of the woman is isolated from both her lover and her environment.