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Astonishing £1,252,000 for Munch Print at Bonhams
http://www.bonhams.com/prints
Model for Controversial Image Shot in Hotel Room
An impression of Edvard Munch's controversial work Madonna has sold for an amazing £1,252,000 at Bonhams – twice its lower estimate of £500,000. This makes it the most expensive print ever sold in the UK and the second most expensive print in the world. Another Munch image, Vampire II, sold in Oslo in 2007 at the height of the market for around £1,256,000.
Thought to be the first hand coloured version of this iconic image, the print shows the Madonna in yellow and white set against a halo of blue, green and red. The central figure is surrounded by a border containing spermatozoa and a foetus in a vivid blood red.
The model for the Madonna was Munch's mistress, Dagny Juel, a femme fatale who, after numerous ill-fated affairs, was shot dead by a young lover in a Tblisi hotel aged just 33. Munch produced the image in seven different states between 1895 and 1902 and this impression is from the very first state. It is in excellent condition and had been in the same family for over 100 years.
Bonhams Head of Prints, Robert Kennan said, "It has been a real privilege selling such a wonderful image and it fully deserves to have achieved such a fantastic price."
Munch was responsible for some of the most radical and experimental advances in printmaking, and this impression dates from the time when he turned increasingly towards graphic art as a means of expression. Only a few hand-coloured impressions of Madonna are known to exist, most of which are now in public collections, and it is very rare for a print of such art historical importance to appear on the open market.
For further press information please contact Andrew Currie on 0207 468 5871 or andrew.currie@bonhams.com or press@bonhams.com
NOTES FOR EDITORS
Bonhams
Bonhams, founded in 1793, is one of the world's oldest and largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques. The present company was formed by the merger in November 2001 of Bonhams & Brooks and Phillips Son and Neale UK. In August 2002, the company acquired Butterfields, the principal firm of auctioneers on the West Coast of America. Today, Bonhams offers more sales than any of its rivals, through two major salerooms in London: New Bond Street, and Knightsbridge, and a further five throughout the UK. Sales are also held in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Carmel, New York and Boston in the USA; Toronto, Canada; and France, Monaco, Hong Kong, Australia and Dubai. Bonhams has a worldwide network of offices and regional representatives in 25 countries offering sales advice and valuation services in 57 specialist areas. By the end of 2009, Bonhams had become UK market leaders in ten key specialist collecting areas. For a full listing of upcoming sales, plus details of Bonhams specialist departments, go to www.bonhams.com (February 2010).
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