CHRISTIE'S HAS RECENTLY ANNOUNCED IT WILL BE OFFERING EDVARD MUNCH'S 'FERTILITY', WHICH IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT WORKS BY THE ARTIST REMAINING IN PRIVATE HANDS. THE STUNNING PAINTING WHICH IS ESTIMATED AT $25 TO $35 MILLION AND IS THE COVER LOT OF CHRISTIE'S UPCOMING EVENING SALE OF IMPRESSIONIST AND MODERN ART ON 4.MAY. PAINTED IN THE LATE 1890s, FERTILITY WAS ORIGINALLY PURCHASED IN 1902 BY DR MAX LINDE, THE GERMAN PATRON RESPONSIBLE FOR HELPING MUNCH ESTABLISH HIS CAREER IN GERMANY. SINCE 1918, THE LARGE FORMAT PAINTING HAS REMAINED IN PRIVATE COLLECTIONS IN SCANDINAVIA, WITH PERIODIC LOANS TO PRESTIGIOUS MUSEUM AND GALLERY EXHIBITIONS THROUGHOUT EUROPE AND THE UNITED STATES. THE UPCOMING SALE MARKS THE FIRST OCCASION THAT THE WORK HAS EVER BEEN OFFERED AT PUBLIC AUCTION. AT NEARLY 4 FEET HIGH BY 4½ FEET WIDE, FERTILITY IS ONE OF THE LARGEST WORKS OF MUNCH'S EARLY CAREER. RENDERED IN VERDANT GREENS WITH RICH ORANGE, RED AND YELLOW ACCENTS, THE PAINTING'S FOCAL POINT IS A LUSH FRUIT TREE LADEN WITH RIPE RED CHERRIES. A MAN AND WOMAN DRESSED IN RUSTIC WORK CLOTHES STAND FACING EACH OTHER ON EITHER SIDE OF THE TREE, CREATING A TABLEAU REMINISCENT OF ADAM AND EVE BEFORE THE TREE OF LIFE. THOUGH THE WOMAN'S VISIBLE PREGNANCY AND THE SCENE'S LUSH GREENERY SEEM TO COMMUNICATE A THEME OF REGENERATION AND HOPE, A FRESH WOUND, AS FROM A NEWLY CUT BOUGH, MARS THE TREE TRUNK BETWEEN THE TWO FIGURES AND LENDS THE SCENE AN OMINOUS, UNSETTLED ELEMENT. DEMAND AMONGST COLLECTORS FOR WORKS FROM THIS PROFOUND STRETCH OF MUNCH'S CAREER CONTINUES TO GROW GLOBALLY, FUELED BY THE GREAT SCARCITY OF AVAILABLE EXAMPLES. FEW PAINTINGS FROM THE 1890s ERA STILL REMAIN IN PRIVATE COLLECTIONS, AND THE WORKS MOST CLOSELY RELATED TO FERTILITY, INCLUDING METABOLISM AND EYE IN EYE, ARE IN THE PERMANENT COLLECTION OF THE MUNCH MUSEUM IN OSLO. THE LAST SIGNIFICANT WORK FROM THE MID 1890s TO COME TO MARKET, THE DARKLY SEDUCTIVE VAMPIRE, SET A RECORD OF $38.1 MILLION AT AUCTION IN NOVEMBER OF 2008.
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