Vampire, an iconic masterwork by Edvard Much, to be sold at Sotheby’s

Edvard Munch: “Vampire”

Vampire, an iconic masterwork by Edvard Much, to be sold at Sotheby’s

Sotheby’s November 3, 2008 evening sale of Impressionist and Modern Art in New York will feature an exceptionally rare masterpiece by Edvard Munch — Vampire, from 1894

]]>

September 30, 2008 – This emotionally charged image numbers among the most iconic compositions in art history. A spectacular representation of love, sex and death, Vampire created a sensation when it was first exhibited and evokes a similar reaction today; calling to mind the provocative work of artists such as Goya, Francis Bacon and Damien Hirst. One of a group of four oil paintings of this theme that Munch completed between 1893 and 1894, Vampire is the only example not owned by a museum; the others residing in institutions in Oslo and Gothenburg. Never before offered at auction, the painting is expected to bring in excess of$35 million

“Few paintings pack as hard a punch as Munch’s Vampire,” commented Simon Shaw, Senior Vice President and Head of Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern Art Department in New York. “Like The Scream, it distils extraordinarily intense feelings into a simple,unforgettable motif. The lovers, locked in their dark embrace, evoke love’s paradox as a source of tenderness and pain.”

This unforgettable masterwork has been exhibited widely, including more than 10 years on loan at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Executed in 1894, the painting was sold to Munch’s avid collector John Anker in 1903. It was later acquired by a private collection in 1934, where it remained for more than seventy years. Prior to exhibition and sale in New York, Vampire will be on view at Sotheby’s London from October 3-7, 2008 and in Moscow from October 16-19, 2008.