A 4m-long painting by Edvard Munch that survived World War II is set to be auctioned on March 1 at Sotheby's Modern and Contemporary Art auction in London, with a pre-sale estimate of between £12m and £1. 20 million.
“Dance on the Beach” was hidden in a Nazi barn next to a version of “The Scream”, and it has been 89 years since the work last appeared on the market.
The sale of the historic painting was made possible thanks to a restitution agreement between the heirs of the artist's friend, Thomas Olsen, a Norwegian maritime entrepreneur, and the heirs of, Curt Glaser, an art historian who owned the painting from 1912 until 1933. When he had to flee the Nazis, Glaser was forced to sell the work, which was then acquired by Olsen in 1934; It has been in the family collection ever since. It is understood that the proceeds from the sale will be divided between the two families. Both Glaser and Olsen had personal relationships with Munch at the time, and the artist painted their wives, Elsa Glaser and Henrietta Olsen.
Munch's current auction record is $119.9 million, achieved in 2012 at a Sotheby's auction in New York for the sale of 1895's "The Scream". It was sold by Petter Olsen, son of Thomas Olsen.
