Edvard Munch's Monumental Canvas to Be Auctioned at Sotheby's London

A monumental canvas by Edvard Munch, measuring over four meters in length, will be auctioned at Sotheby's London from the Olsen Collection. 'Dance on the Beach' (1906) is a highlight of the Modern & Contemporary Evening Sale on March 1, with a pre-sale estimate of $15-25 million. Before the sale, the work will be publicly visible for the first time since 1979 in London (February 22 to March 1), with digital viewing projects in Hong Kong (February 5-7) and New York (February 11-15). The painting was originally commissioned by theater director Max Reinhardt in 1906 for his Berlin theater's Reinhardt Frieze, a series of twelve large canvases. It is the only piece from that series still in private hands; others are in German museums. After Reinhardt, the work was acquired by art historian Curt Glaser, a friend and biographer of Munch. Persecuted by Nazis for his Jewish heritage, Glaser fled Germany in 1933 and sold the painting to Thomas Olsen, a Norwegian friend and collector. Olsen hid it in a barn during WWII. The Olsen family has owned it for 89 years, also working to open Munch's house at Ramme as a museum next summer. The painting reflects Munch's personal tragedies and unfulfilled loves, Tulla Larsen and Millie Thaulow. In 1908, Munch suffered a nervous breakdown and was hospitalized in Copenhagen.