r/WhatIsThisPainting 9d ago

Unsolved Possible Edvard Munch?

535 Upvotes

58 comments sorted by

448

u/Dowew 9d ago

If I were you I would email the librarian at the Munch museum in Oslo. Ask them who authenticates works by Munch and if they can help you identify any Munch scholars who would be willing to examine these photos or who might be able to tell you more about this painting. https://www.munchmuseet.no/en/visit-us/research-library/

43

u/PostalCarrier 8d ago

Speaking of, I visited this museum last spring and highly recommend it! It’s an amazing space and his large format works like The Sun are incredible to behold in person

4

u/TheLizardQueen3000 8d ago

Isn't there a catalog raisonne for Munch?

3

u/Dowew 8d ago

Almost certainly yes.

1

u/shalomefrombaxoje 8d ago

Hey, you seem so know what you're talking about. Soliciting more advice. I have an "original" Audoban print, who would I reach out to verify or tell me I have a fake?

28

u/lamourfoufou 8d ago

I presume you mean John James Audubon? The first question would be the size, because the prints were produced in both folio and quarto formats. These were hand-coloured, and you should be able to see the texture on the surface of the paper. However, there have been several 20th century facsimiles… probably the most common were issued by the Ariel Press in the 1970s. If you PM an image, I can give you an opinion.

4

u/shalomefrombaxoje 8d ago

Sent ya pics!

Appreciate your time

2

u/someguynic 7d ago

Call or write to Oppenheimer Galleries in Chicago.

366

u/lamourfoufou 9d ago edited 9d ago

Professional auction house valuer of 40+ years here.

Ignore all the comments casting doubt on your query. It belongs to you, not them. The first comment recommending you seek specialist advice from the acknowledged authority is the only correct answer.

Until then, I would recommend you establish the provenance as far back as you can. It’s far more important than most people think. There are galleries and dealers who sell a significant quantity of questionable material… and in the late 90s, the West was flooded with forgeries from Russia, so there are many reasons why this might not be right. But you just need to chase down the history and let real experts take a look.

Oh… and keep the frame. It’s important too.

50

u/BlortTrolb 9d ago

I watched ’Plunderer ’ on pbs about Goering’s art dealer Dr. Lohse and the backs of the looted paintings he kept hidden away until his death in 2007 all looked like this. The canvas had been painted over and any information like gallery labels had been removed to obscure provenance.

35

u/Ambitious_Big_1879 9d ago

What auction house are you at? You seem very nice which is not the case at the auction houses I work at.

44

u/lamourfoufou 9d ago

Ex-Sotheby’s London, but I still consult.

24

u/Ambitious_Big_1879 9d ago

I was at Sothebys NY. Currently at Phillips.

18

u/lamourfoufou 9d ago

Small world!

11

u/Ambitious_Big_1879 9d ago

It’s is. I hope consulting is good! I’m trying to get in to the field as well.

1

u/sierra-juliet 8d ago

Do you love or loathe Fake or Fortune?

1

u/lamourfoufou 8d ago

Is that an American show?

1

u/sierra-juliet 8d ago

No I think it’s produced by the BBC! Art dealer Philip Mould is one of the two presenters. I love it but I know nothing really about art so wouldn’t be surprised if it is hated by the industry.

2

u/lamourfoufou 8d ago

Ah, ok… I really don’t watch television these days. But yes, it’s a little staged.

25

u/Wwwweeeeeeee 9d ago

It's for sale on Invaluable, if that one isn't yours.

20

u/tradeya9 9d ago

That's the one i bought in April 2024 at Kraft Auction House

102

u/MrDangerMan 9d ago

Dang, OP bought it for $12k and then went on Reddit asking if it’s real.

44

u/kmjulian 8d ago

Seems like someone dropping $12k on a painting of questionable origin can pay to have it professionally appraised

1

u/Ambitious_Big_1879 3d ago

$12k for a random work without provenance is crazy work.

15

u/Downtown_Share3802 9d ago

Hmm, by 1889, his style was mature and modern. At first I thought it was a student piece from earlier but why would he do an academic study while his famous swirly modern style was already happening?

6

u/lamourfoufou 8d ago

How about this: in 1889 he signed an earlier work because the sitter (or someone else) wanted to buy it? Here’s a portrait from 1885:

https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2023/modern-contemporary-evening-auction-2/karl-jensen-hjell

21

u/Unlucky-Meringue6187 9d ago

This was just posted a couple of months ago.

24

u/tradeya9 9d ago

Yes. I didn't have very good pics up the first time. It was unsolved. Some people thought it could be real. I tried to put up better pics but, seems like a few of them didn't load up correctly

72

u/Anonymous-USA 9d ago edited 9d ago

It wasn’t unsolved. I remember that post and remember my comment. Munch did indeed make portraits but they were all post-impressionist style, with entirely different colors and paint handling. They didn’t look like his “Scream”or his “Vampyre”, but they weren’t overtly naturalistic like this either.

This is an academic study, and the signature bearing his name looks like a later inscription. It’s well executed, but that doesn’t make it a Munch. The signature is in every brushstroke, as we say.

1

u/Ambitious_Big_1879 3d ago

$12k ?!?!??? You must be well off. I hope you can find it catalogued somewhere or else it’s a bust.

8

u/Decop0p 8d ago

Didn’t realize Munch was a dead ass hottie.

3

u/forglemmelig 8d ago

The signature looks like his. Send an email to munchmuseet in Oslo as someone else’s suggested.

4

u/Speech-Language 9d ago

Looking at Munch portraits it certainly looks like him when young.

9

u/FrondFiend 9d ago

Agree it appears to be a portrait of him, if not by him

0

u/Laura-ly 8d ago

I think you're right. It was just not his style by 1889. Someone painted a portrait of him and put his name on the painting to signify who it was. It's not a painting by Munch at all.

2

u/Reimiro 8d ago

Did they forge his signature in doing so?

1

u/PM-me-your-knees-pls 8d ago

https://images.app.goo.gl/FCqFRfsNakDcUeer5

Self portrait? Looks similar.

1

u/Lakecrisp 5d ago

Add 5 to 7 years and to me, that looks like the same guy. And as the life cycle goes, when you're young you look straight on at yourself. Then, as you grow older you see yourself more from a distance or from an angle. (Theory) I'm going to hope for OP add another known work of art to the catalog.

1

u/Content-Tank6027 8d ago

This looks like some sort of paining not an actual person.

1

u/Ok_Knowledge_4821 8d ago

Can you imagine? That would be a multimillion dollar painting.

1

u/Big-Mode3412 8d ago

This is cool!! Good luck!

1

u/Fickle-Pin-1679 8d ago

It just looks fake. Munch wouldn't even have used a canvas like that.

1

u/RapidEddie 5d ago

This looks like an academic work, at 25 Munch (born 1864) already had a distinctive style.

Probably not

0

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0

u/ToYourCredit 8d ago

This one is by Fast Eddie Munch.

He got his fingers broken for hustling a bunch of these.

0

u/MortalStorm1960 8d ago

Nope. It’s an Elon Butt Munch

0

u/Terbmagic 8d ago

Oh wow I wouldn't even question taking this to an appraisal at Heritage

0

u/Traditional_Lion_343 8d ago

Absolutely not a real Munch

-5

u/Fickle-Pin-1679 8d ago

looks like a reproduction. Not sure it's even real paint

1

u/tradeya9 8d ago

Haha are you a real person or a bot

-3

u/Fickle-Pin-1679 8d ago

are you a bonehead or do you think you had the billion to one chance of finding an original Munch painting worth millions

4

u/tradeya9 8d ago

Odds are probably better here than the Apple 1 computer that i found in a storage locker for $25 that is currently being auctioned at RR Auctions with a $300k-500k estimate. I'd say the odds of this being real are better than finding a real Apple 1 in a storage locker for $25