Lot Essay
DAS KRANKE MäDCHEN IS ONE OF THE ARTIST'S EARLIEST PRINTS AND ONE OF HIS MOST FAMOUS AND POWERFUL MOTIFS. ACCORDING TO A LETTER THIS SUBJECT WAS THE 'FIRST PICTURE AND THE MAIN PICTURE IN THE FRIEZE OF LIFE', THE ARTIST'S MONUMENTAL SERIES OF THEMES OF LOVE, LIFE AND DEATH. THE DRYPOINT IS A REVERSED IMAGE OF THE PAINTING OF 1885-6, EXHIBITED AT THE TIME WITH THE TITLE STUDY (THE SICK CHILD) (NASJONALGALLERIET, OSLO).
THE IMAGE DERIVES FROM MUNCH'S EXPERIENCE OF THE DEATH OF HIS SISTER SOPHIE IN 1877, WHEN HE WAS ONLY FOURTEEN. THE TRAUMA OF THIS DEATH LEFT SO PROFOUND A STAMP ON THE ARTIST'S PSYCHE THAT HE FELT COMPELLED TO WORK IT OUT REPEATEDLY BOTH IN PAINTED AND PRINTED FORM. THE THEME WAS FURTHER EXPLORED IN A LITHOGRAPH AND AN ETCHING OF THE SAME TITLE IN 1896.
THE SMALL LANDSCAPE AT THE BASE OF THE CENTRAL IMAGE MAY REPRESENT NEW LIFE IN THE FACE OF ILLNESS AND DEATH, AS IN SPRING, ANOTHER PAINTED VARIATION OF THE SICK CHILD THEME (NASJONALGALLERIET, OSLO), WHICH DEPICTS THE DYING GIRL SITTING NEXT TO A LARGE SUNLIT WINDOW.
AS LATE AS 1933, MUNCH WROTE ABOUT THE SICK CHILD THEME IN A LETTER TO JENS THIIS, DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL GALLERY, OSLO 'THE ONLY INFLUENCES IN THE SICK CHILD....WERE THE ONES THAT CAME FROM MY HOME: THOSE PICTURES WERE MY CHILDHOOD AND MY HOME....THOSE WERE THE DAYS OF PILLOWS, OF SICKBEDS, OF FEATHER QUILTS. BUT FIRMLY I BELIEVE THAT SCARCELY ANY OF THESE PAINTERS HAS EVER EXPERIENCED THE FULL GRIEF OF THEIR SUBJECT AS I DID IN THE SICK CHILD...'
THE IMAGE DERIVES FROM MUNCH'S EXPERIENCE OF THE DEATH OF HIS SISTER SOPHIE IN 1877, WHEN HE WAS ONLY FOURTEEN. THE TRAUMA OF THIS DEATH LEFT SO PROFOUND A STAMP ON THE ARTIST'S PSYCHE THAT HE FELT COMPELLED TO WORK IT OUT REPEATEDLY BOTH IN PAINTED AND PRINTED FORM. THE THEME WAS FURTHER EXPLORED IN A LITHOGRAPH AND AN ETCHING OF THE SAME TITLE IN 1896.
THE SMALL LANDSCAPE AT THE BASE OF THE CENTRAL IMAGE MAY REPRESENT NEW LIFE IN THE FACE OF ILLNESS AND DEATH, AS IN SPRING, ANOTHER PAINTED VARIATION OF THE SICK CHILD THEME (NASJONALGALLERIET, OSLO), WHICH DEPICTS THE DYING GIRL SITTING NEXT TO A LARGE SUNLIT WINDOW.
AS LATE AS 1933, MUNCH WROTE ABOUT THE SICK CHILD THEME IN A LETTER TO JENS THIIS, DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL GALLERY, OSLO 'THE ONLY INFLUENCES IN THE SICK CHILD....WERE THE ONES THAT CAME FROM MY HOME: THOSE PICTURES WERE MY CHILDHOOD AND MY HOME....THOSE WERE THE DAYS OF PILLOWS, OF SICKBEDS, OF FEATHER QUILTS. BUT FIRMLY I BELIEVE THAT SCARCELY ANY OF THESE PAINTERS HAS EVER EXPERIENCED THE FULL GRIEF OF THEIR SUBJECT AS I DID IN THE SICK CHILD...'