News – Missing Munch’s – World

So. Munch’s 'Madonna' is lost to the world and his iconic 'Scream' is nowhere to be found. No doubt they’re hidden in a warehouse, somewhere in the back of beyond, awaiting their sale or, indeed, pick up. Whatever the case, things can’t get any worst, can they? Well, it seems as though they can, as researchers from the Munch Museum in Oslo, studying his catalogue raisonné, have discovered that a phenomenal 70 works are missing. Yes, they have gone, are lost, and have likely disappeared into that great artistic abyss know as ‘private collections’.

Munch is said to have produced around 1,700 works in his lifetime. However, many of the missing paintings, which include versions of the 'Old Aker Church' (1882), 'The Kiss' (1892), 'The Girls on the Bridge' (1902) and 'Felix Auerbach' (1906), were painted during the early stages of his career in the 1800s. No doubt, it goes without saying, it would be a travesty to lose them. Still, it’s not all bad. Last year, savvy staff for the Kunsthalle Bremen discovered an unknown Munch, hidden beneath a primary canvas, The Dead Mother (1899) (above).