Lot 55
  • 55

Edvard Munch

Estimate
2,000,000 - 3,000,000 USD
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Description

  • Edvard Munch
  • Såmannen (The Sower)
  • Signed E. Munch and dated 1913 (lower right)
  • Oil on canvas
  • 35 3/4 by 45 1/2 in.
  • 90.8 by 115.5 cm

Provenance

Anders Gulowsen (acquired before 1917 and until after 1927)

Tom Høyer (acquired by 1988)

Einar-Tore Ulving, Tønsberg (acquired by 1988)

Ole Steen, Oslo 

Private Collection, Sweden (acquired by 2004)

Private Collection, United States (acquired by 2007)

Acquired from the above

Exhibited

Kristiania, Blomqvist Kunsthandel, Edvard Munch, 1915, no. 12

Bergen, Bergens Kunstforening, Edvard Munch -- Utstilling 1916, 1916, no. 7

Stockholm, Liljevalchs Konsthall, Nutida Norsk konst, 1917, no. 150

Oslo, Nasjonalgalleriet, Edvard Munch, 1927, no. 207

Literature

Gerd Woll, Edvard Munch, Complete Paintings, 1909-1920, vol. III, London, 2009, no. 1043, illustrated p. 1010

Condition

This work is in very good condition. Canvas has a wax lining. Under UV light, no evidence of inpainting.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Catalogue Note

In 1908, following a mental breakdown, Munch spent several months in Dr. Jacobsen's clinic in Copenhagen. His subsequent recovery heralded a fundamental shift in his art. In 1910 Munch bought the manor Nedre Ramme in Hvitsten on the east side of the Kristiania Fjord. It was on this estate, where he became Thomas Olsen's neighbor, that he discovered new motifs including farm scenes and bathers. His pictures from this time show Munch as a colorist, characterized by a lighter, life-affirming attitude.

The vibrant palette of Såmannen typifies Munch's post-clinic renaissance. Munch celebrates here what he called 'the perpetual forces of life', his vision of human beings existing in harmony with nature. The theme of the sower encapsulated concepts of fertility and the life cycle and these were certainly on Munch's mind as he experienced a renewed vigor for life. He uses a plethora of medium in this composition, building up layers of impasto that impart his hunger for an unmediated artistic experience.

Munch first addressed the subject of the sower in a work from 1911 which formed part of the Aula series. The King Frederick University of Kristiana (now Oslo) built a new hall to commemmorate its centenary and artists were invited to submit entries in a competition to decorate the monumental walls. As part of his vision for the space, Munch painted The Sun as a centerpiece and planned to place a panel depicting a sower to its left. As he wrote, "The panels on either side of the sun, right next to it, will show: on the left a sower, on the right a man trying find his way through the forest, both of them walking towards the source of life and light" (quoted in Gerd Woll, op. cit., p. 964). Munch followed through on this theme two years later when he painted the present composition. Munch floods Såmannen with resplendent light, signalling a similar essence of the sun as the "source of life and light."

In its content and compositional structure, Såmannen appears aligned with Vincent van Gogh's work of the same subject from 1888 (fig. 2). Van Gogh's work similarly focused on the life-giving potential of the sun with a symbolist attention to form. J. A. Clarke describes Munch's appreciation of Van Gogh's work, "His cousin Ludvig Ravensberg recounted a conversation with the artist in 1909: 'At dinner today Munch and I had a most interesting conversation about Gauguin and Van Gogh. M[unch] found Van Gogh to be remarkably Germanic. He... also found strong support in Gauguin, whom he also found to be Germanic.' When Munch ascribed Germanic sensibilities to these artists, he was not referring to their palettes, which he rightly argued adopted bold, flat areas of color. Instead, he was thinking of their embrace of 'earthy' subjects; their inventive, self-reflexive approach; and their near-religious tendency towards mysticism" (Jay A. Clarke, Becoming Edvard Munch: Influence, Anxiety, and Myth (exhibition catalogue), The Art Institute of Chicago, 2009, p. 88).