Viking Magazine - August 2013 - 20

So one can only imagine
how Munch would react
to Norway's big plans for
his 150th birthday. Among
many other events and retrospectives,
there will be a new
bronze statue of his mother
and aunt, a jazz homage
to Munch's diaries and a
1,000-person re-enactment
of the famous gaunt-cheeked
face from his painting " The
Scream, " a public display
meant to encourage recycling
and environmental stewardship.
The Munch Museum
and the National Gallery in
Oslo are cooperating on the
largest-ever exhibition of
Munch artwork. And in late
May, the Munch Museum
in Oslo announced it would
be building a new, $295
million museum designed
by Spanish architecture fi rm
Herreros Arquitectos. The
new museum will be shaped
like a leaning glass tower
and built on the trendy Oslo
waterfront next to the shiny
new opera house.
All this Munch-mania is
a welcome change of pace,
says Stein Olav Heinrichsen,
director of the Munch
Museum in Oslo. " I think
Norwegians are beginning to
see how important Munch
is, not just to Norway, but
to the world. " For decades,
Munch's vast and priceless
collection of prints and
paintings has been stored in
a modest municipal museum
with sagging attendance
rates. Even after a version
of Munch's most famous
painting, " The Scream, " was
fi lched from the museum by
masked gunmen in broad
daylight in 2004, Oslo City
Council members were loath
to approve any grand plans,
or even to upgrade security.
The wakeup call, says
Heinrichsen, was the
Sotheby's auction last May
when a pastel version of
" The Scream " sold to
American billionaire Leon
Black for $119.5 million, the
largest sum ever collected
for a single artwork at an
open auction. Heinrichsen
also points to a 2012
touring exhibition in Paris,
Frankfurt and London that
attracted nearly a million
visitors. " The auction and
the exhibition fi nally proved
to Norway that Munch is a
crown jewel of our culture. "
Throughout 2013,
Norway is celebrating
the 150th birthday
of its most
famous painter.
Through Sept. 22
Modum
Blaafarveværket is hosting
an exhibition on Modum's
plein air artist's colony, as
well as Edvard Munch's
time as a young student
there in the 1880s.
Oct. 24
Oslo
Through Oct. 13
Oslo
A dedicated viewing spot
will be opened, so visitors
can see Munch's exact vantage
point on Ekeberg Hill
from which " The Scream "
was painted.
Oct. 25
Fredrikstad
A member of the Munch
family will reveal a new
bronze and granite sculpture
by artist Birthe Marie
Løveid. The sculpture is of
Munch's mother and aunt,
two native Fredrikstaders.
The National Museum
of Art, Architecture and
Design is staging a
comprehensive exhibition
with the Munch Museum.
The National Gallery will
focus on Munch's artwork
from 1904 to 1944, and
the Munch Museum will
display hundreds of the artist's
earlier works, including
the famous paintings
that were stolen in armed
heists in 2004 and 2006. A
ticket to the double-venue
exhibition will also get you
in to see Munch's frescoes
at the University of Oslo,
his paintings at the Freia
chocolate factory and his
estate, Ekely, which will be
open to the public for the
fi rst time.
20 VIKING AUGUST 2013
sonsofnorway.com
Through Dec. 31
Oslo
An exhibition at The
Ibsen Museum explores the
relationship between the
acclaimed playwright and
famous painter.
Through Dec. 31
Norway's postal service is
offering anniversary stamps
of fi ve Munch artworks,
" The Scream, " " The Sick
Child, " " The Sun and Madonna "
and " Self-Portrait. "
➜ To fi nd more Munch events,
visit munch150.no/en/
ARTWORK COURTESY OF © MUNCH MUSEUM / MUNCH ELLINGSEN GROUP / BONO
http://www.munch150.no/en/ http://www.sonsofnorway.com
Viking Magazine - August 2013

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