Munch’s painting hidden from the Nazis is auctioned for $15-25 million

MOSCOW, January 18 – RIA Novosti. Sotheby’s has auctioned Edvard Munch’s “Dancing on the Beach” painting. Writer artnet. Estimated lot – 15 – 25 million dollars.

The sale was made possible thanks to an extradition agreement between the heirs of a friend of artist Thomas Olsen and philanthropist Kurt Glaser. It is assumed that the income will be shared between the two families.

The work was commissioned by Max Reinhardt in 1906. It is one of the 12 paintings that should be placed on the upper floor of the theatre. Munch described the project as a breathtaking installation of “images of the modern soul.”

Glaser bought the painting in 1912. He is the director of the Berlin State Art Library and wrote the artist’s biography. Then the Reinhard Theater was already renovated and the frieze was divided.

Glaser had to sell the piece in 1933. The art historian was Jewish and was persecuted by the Nazis.

In 1934, Olsen, Munch’s neighbor and a shipping businessman, bought it at an auction in Oslo. The painting was displayed in the first class of one of the cruise ships.

After England declared war on Germany, Olsen hid his paintings in a barn in the Norwegian forest. Works included “Dancing on the Beach” and one of Munch’s versions of “The Scream.”

The fate of “Dancing on the Beach” is reminiscent of the fate of another master’s masterpiece, “Summer Day or Embrace on the Beach”. He also switched from Glazer to Olsen. This canvas was sold by Sotheby’s for $22 million in 2021, which is not a record for Munch’s paintings. His most expensive work is a version of The Scream (1895). It went under the hammer for $119.9 million in 2012. By the way, once Thomas Olsen also bought it from the artist.