Four versions exist. The 1893 painting on cardboard is among the most theft-affected works of the modern era.
Artist
Edvard Munch
Date
1893
Medium
Tempera and crayon on cardboard
Dimensions
91 × 73.5 cm
Location
National Museum, Oslo
History
What the record shows
Munch produced two painted versions, one pastel and one lithograph, developing the motif from a walk near Ekeberg where he described the sky turning blood red.
The 1893 painting was stolen from the National Gallery in Oslo in 1994 and recovered within months. The 1910 version was taken from the Munch Museum in 2004 and recovered in 2006.
Cardboard is hygroscopic and dimensionally unstable. Unfixed pastel and crayon passages cannot be surface-cleaned, so both climate control and vibration isolation are absolute requirements in transit.
Provenance
Chain of ownership
01Artist's collection, Kristiania
02Olaf Schou; presented to the National Gallery, Oslo, 1910
