UNIQUE HAND-COLOURED MUNCH MADONNA TO MAKE £700,000 AT BONHAMS PRINT SALE 13 JULY
UNIQUE HAND-COLOURED MUNCH MADONNA TO MAKE £700,000 AT BONHAMS PRINT SALE 13 JULY
NEVER BEFORE SEEN IN PUBLIC
One of the earliest known hand-coloured impressions of a 20th century iconic image, Edvard Munch’s Madonna, is being offered for sale at Bonhams Print sale on 13 July 2010. It is estimated to fetch between £500,000 – 700,000.
The museum quality impression, which has never been seen in public, is signed and dated 1895, the year of its creation. The artist reworked his original concept several times between 1895 and 1902 and the image exists in seven distinct states. This print is from the very first state and is, arguably, the earliest hand-coloured impression. It shows the Madonna in yellow and white set against a halo of blue, green and red. The central figure is surrounded by a border containing spermatozoa and a foetus in a vivid blood red.
Munch was responsible for some of the most radical and experimental advances in printmaking and this impression dates from the time when he turned increasingly towards graphic art as a means of expression. Only a few hand-coloured impressions ofMadonna are known to exist, most of which are now in public collections, and it is very rare for a print of such art historical importance to appear on the open market.
Although there are six oil paintings of Madonna - all predating the print - none of them have the border which made the lithographic image so challenging at the time. At least one of the paintings, however, was originally hung in a frame decorated with spermatozoa and embryos and these motifs Munch later included in the border of the lithograph.
“This is a hugely significant work and in beautiful condition,” said Robert Kennan, Bonhams Head of Prints. “Munch returned to the Madonna time and again over a seven year period and it is fascinating to see this iconic image at its very earliest stage of its evolution as a print.”
The work is being sold on behalf of the estate of the Abstract Expressionist artist Frank (Albert) Avray Wilson (1914 – 2009). It was formerly in the collection of Ivy Eckbo, Avray Wilson’s wife and the adopted daughter of Eivind Eckbo, a highly regarded Norwegian businessman and philanthropist.
Eivind Eckbo owned several other lithographs by Munch and family legend has it that Madonna hung at his residence, the Villa Eckbo, located in Holmenkolen, Oslo until the late 1940s.
For further sale information please go to www.bonhams.com/prints
Bonhams, founded in 1793, is one of the world's oldest and largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques. The present company was formed by the merger in November 2001 of Bonhams & Brooks and Phillips Son and Neale UK. In August 2002, the company acquired Butterfields, the principal firm of auctioneers on the West Coast of America. Today, Bonhams offers more sales than any of its rivals, through two major salerooms in London: New Bond Street, and Knightsbridge, and a further seven throughout the UK. Sales are also held in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Boston in the USA; and Switzerland, France, Monaco, Hong Kong and Dubai. Bonhams has a worldwide network of offices and regional representatives in 25 countries offering sales advice and valuation services in 50 specialist areas. For a full listing of upcoming sales, plus details of Bonhams specialist departments, go to www.bonhams.com.
