World record prices achieved for Munch paintings at Sotheby’s, London

Sue Prideaux had the privilege of writing the introduction to Sotheby’s catalogue of the Olsen collection,  eight paintings by Munch sold by Fred Olsen at Sotheby’s in London at their Impressionist and Modern Art sale on February 7th 2006.   Selling for a total of 16.9 millions pounds,  they greatly exceeded their high estimate. A world record price of 6.2 million pounds was fetched by ‘Summer Day’, originally part of the Linde frieze. (See description of the paintings in the item below. ) The haunting ‘Self-portrait against two coloured ground’  wildly exceeded its estimate, selling for £3,600,000 with strong competition from six bidders.  International interest in the  sale was intense. It seems that among the younger  generation of collectors, Munch’s work is at last achieving its proper value within the context of the art of his time.