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Lot Essay
Gerd Woll and Ingebjorg Gunnarson of the Munch-museet have confirmed the authenticity of this painting.
In 1916 Munch bought a property known as Ekely in the town of Skøyen, near Kristiana (present day Oslo). A two-story villa served as his house and studio, and a red farmhouse, seen in the present painting, housed his caretaker, his family and farmhands, and also served as a stable. Munch took over the cultivation of fruit trees left by the previous owner and planted a market garden, selling the produce in local markets. An elm forest surrounded the rolling landscape.
Ekely became for Munch what the villa and garden at Giverny meant for the Impressionist painter Claude Monet: a rich source of inspiration for his art and nourishment for his soul. Drawing upon the many vistas throughout Ekely, Munch replaced the cycle of human emotional experience--the frequent subject of his early art--with the age-old tradition of celebrating the grand cycle of life as seen through the seasons and seasonal activities.
(E. Prelinger, After the Scream: The Late Paintings of Edvard Munch, exh. cat., High Museum of Art, Atlanta, 2002, p. 51)
In 1916 Munch bought a property known as Ekely in the town of Skøyen, near Kristiana (present day Oslo). A two-story villa served as his house and studio, and a red farmhouse, seen in the present painting, housed his caretaker, his family and farmhands, and also served as a stable. Munch took over the cultivation of fruit trees left by the previous owner and planted a market garden, selling the produce in local markets. An elm forest surrounded the rolling landscape.
Ekely became for Munch what the villa and garden at Giverny meant for the Impressionist painter Claude Monet: a rich source of inspiration for his art and nourishment for his soul. Drawing upon the many vistas throughout Ekely, Munch replaced the cycle of human emotional experience--the frequent subject of his early art--with the age-old tradition of celebrating the grand cycle of life as seen through the seasons and seasonal activities.
(E. Prelinger, After the Scream: The Late Paintings of Edvard Munch, exh. cat., High Museum of Art, Atlanta, 2002, p. 51)