Prints and Multiples
Prints and Multiples
Property from an Important Private European Collection
EDVARD MUNCH | MYSTICAL SHORE (W. 117; S. 125)
Auction Closed
September 17, 04:10 PM GMT
Estimate
40,000 - 60,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
Property from an Important Private European Collection
EDVARD MUNCH
1863 - 1944
MYSTICAL SHORE (W. 117; S. 125)
A rare proof impression of this scarce woodcut printed from two blocks in grey and brownish grey, the moon hand-coloured, 1897, this impression cited in Woll, variation III of V, on tissue thin Japan paper, mounted showing the inscription ‘Bitte drucken/Grundton hell blau/Die Hauptplatte schwarz’ in pencil verso, framed
image: 370 by 565mm 14½ by 22¼in
sheet: 467 by 655mm 18⅜ by 25¾in
Acquired directly from the artist by his fourth cousin; thence by descent to the present owner
Richard Field, writing in the catalogue of the landmark exhibition The Artistic Revival of the Woodcut in France, 1850 -1900 (University of Michigan, 1984), draws particular attention to this very rare woodcut by Munch. This work “signals the crisis of the woodcut at the end of the century”. It was at this point that both Munch and Gauguin, apparently totally independently of each other, abandoned the pictorial aspects of the woodcut as practised by Vallotton and others. They not only abandoned the complexities of colour printing, they used the natural characteristics and sculptural qualities of the single block, in particular the use of the grain of the wood. When the painting of this subject was exhibited in Paris in 1896, Strindberg was captivated by the moon, writing in La Revue Blanche “Like the dot of an i, the moon rises to suggest an infinite sadness and desolation”.
Jonathan Pascoe Pratt PhD.