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Lot Essay
Gerd Woll and Ingebjorg Gunnarson of the Munch-Museet have confirmed the authenticity of this painting.
Munch arrived in Paris in October 1889 and enrolled as a student of the celebrated painter Léon Bonnat. His stay in Paris granted him exposure to a wide range of painting styles, from exhibitions of Camille Pissarro and Claude Monet at Galerie Durand-Ruel and Galerie Georges Petit, to the more radical painters exhibiting at the the Salon des Indépendants. In an effort to escape an outbreak of cholera in 1890 and mourning the recent passing of his father, Munch moved from Paris to the suburb of Saint-Cloud on the Seine, renting a small room above a café. Confined to his room and in a state of deep depression, Munch painted melancholy landscapes such as the present work, suffused with soft light. The lone figure on the riverbank may represent Munch himself, emphasizing the artist's feelings of intense loneliness during this dark time.
Munch arrived in Paris in October 1889 and enrolled as a student of the celebrated painter Léon Bonnat. His stay in Paris granted him exposure to a wide range of painting styles, from exhibitions of Camille Pissarro and Claude Monet at Galerie Durand-Ruel and Galerie Georges Petit, to the more radical painters exhibiting at the the Salon des Indépendants. In an effort to escape an outbreak of cholera in 1890 and mourning the recent passing of his father, Munch moved from Paris to the suburb of Saint-Cloud on the Seine, renting a small room above a café. Confined to his room and in a state of deep depression, Munch painted melancholy landscapes such as the present work, suffused with soft light. The lone figure on the riverbank may represent Munch himself, emphasizing the artist's feelings of intense loneliness during this dark time.