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PROPERTY FROM THE OLSEN COLLECTION

1863-1944
HORSES

measurements
85 by 111cm.

alternate measurements
33 1/2 by 43 3/4 in.

Painted in 1916.

signed Edv. Munch and dated 1916 (lower right)

oil on canvas

To be included in the forthcoming Munch Catalogue raisonné being prepared by the Munch-museet, Oslo.

PROVENANCE

Max Glaeser, Eselsfürth (1928)
Louise Zeuner, Kaiserslautern (1929)
Museum Folkwang, Essen (acquired from the above in 1936; seized as 'degenerate art' in 1937, inventory no. 3706)
NS-Depot Niederschönhausen, Berlin (1938)
Kunsthaus Harald Holst Halvorsen, Oslo (1939; Sale: Wangs Kunsthandels Lokale, Oslo, Edvard Munch malerier og grafiske arbeider fra tyske museer, 23^rd January 1939, lot 37)
Thomas Olsen (purchased at the above sale)
Thence by descent to the present owner

EXHIBITED

Chemnitz, Kunsthütte zu Chemnitz, Edvard Munch, 1929, no. 45
Hanover, Kestner Gasellschaft, Kestner Gasellschafts 100. Ausstellung, 1929
Zurich, Kunsthaus, Edvard Munch, Paul Gauguin, 1932, no. 19
Oslo, Kunstnernes Hus, Edvard Munch. Utsetilling malerier, akvareller, tegninger, grafikk, 1951, no. 83
Zurich, Kunsthaus, Edvard Munch, 1952, no. 61
Sâo Paulo, 11ème Biennale du Musée d'Art Moderne de Sâo Paulo, 1953-54, no. 12
Venice, XXVII Biennale Internazionale d'Arte (Norwegian Pavilion), 1954, no. 34
Munich, Haus der Kunst & Cologne, Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, Edvard Munch, 1954-55, no. 85
Copenhagen, Statens Museum for Kunst, Edvard Munch, 1955, no. 52
Oslo, Kunstnerforbundet, Munchbilder i privat eie (Munchbilder in Privatbesitz), 1958, no. 29
Bern, Kunstmuseum, Edvard Munch, 1958, no. 71
Vienna, Akademie der bildenden Künste, Edvard Munch, 1959, no. 55
Warsaw, Muzeum Narodowe, Malarstwo i Grafika, 1959, no. 19, illustrated in the catalogue
Munich, Haus der Kunst, Entartete Kunst. Bildersturm vor 25 Jahren, 1962, no. 118
Stockholm, Nationalmuseum, Höjdepunkter i norsk konst, 1968, no. 244
Kiel, Kunsthalle zu Kiel, Edvard Munch. Gemälde und Zeichnungen aus einer norwegischen Privatsammlung, 1979, no. 20, illustrated in the catalogue
Chemnitz, Kunstsammlungen, Edvard Munch in Chemnitz, 1999-2000, no. 47

LITERATURE

Pola Gauguin, Edvard Munch, Oslo, 1933
Pola Gauguin, Edvard Munch, Stockholm, 1947, illustrated after p. 240
Arve Moen, Edvard Munch: Tier und Landschaft, Munich, 1959, no. 12, illustrated p. 99
J. P. Hodin, Edvard Munch. Der Genius des Nordens, Berlin, 1963, illustrated after p. 96
Stationen der Moderne. Die bedeutenden Kunstausstellungen des 20. Jahrhunderts in Deutschland (exhibition catalogue), Berlinische Galerie, Berlin, 1988-89, illustrated p. 48
Munch und Deutschland (exhibition catalogue), Kunsthalle der Hypo-Kulturstiftung, Munich; Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg & Nationalgalerie, Berlin, 1994-95, illustrated p. 123
Christoph Zuschlag, 'Entartete Kunst'. Ausstellungsstrategien im Nazi-Deutschland, Worms, 1995, no. 48, illustrated after p. 299

NOTE

The subject of the horse is a recurrent theme in Munch's work, often used as a symbol reflecting the artist's state of mind. The Galloping Horse of 1912 is a panic-stricken depiction of the elemental force, showing the animal in an unstoppable gallop towards the viewer, and a tiny, helpless figure of a man loosing control over it. The 1919 painting Ploughing (Two Horse Team) is a much calmer composition depicting two horses in the fields, aiding the man in his work. Whilst in the present work the horses are seen as man's friends and collaborators in the field work, they are rendered in such a way that they appear closer to nature than to man: blending into the surrounding environment, they seem to express the elemental force of nature, overshadowing the small image of the man behind them. The image of the two horses attached to each other and pulling in different directions can also be seen as a metaphor of man's dual nature, as well as of the artist's own inner divide.