The Sick Child

"Munch perfectly matched Ernest Thiel’s taste for radical art and artists who took their own path. In 1886, Munch made his successful albeit scandalous breakthrough with his painting The Sick Child, shown at an exhibition in Oslo (then called Christiania), the capital of Norway. Some considered it to be sloppy and unfinished, but other critics pronounced him one of the most interesting artists of his generation. Munch was clever at using the bad press to craft his own reputation of being an idiosyncratic artist. The scandal, and Munch’s subsequent exhibitions that also provoked huge attention, served to awaken the interest of Ernest Thiel and other collectors, critics and artists throughout Europe. The collection at the Thiel Gallery includes a version of Munch’s The Sick Child from 1907 that was commissioned by Thiel. While working on it, the artist wrote in a letter that his nerves had improved, but that he had back pains instead: 'The sick child is painted by a sick painter.'" Text: Patrik Steorn

Purchased from artist 1907.

TG 289

Art Collection -> Paintings

On Display

Thielska Galleriet. Utkast till katalog över måleri, skulptur, grafik / Draft for catalogue over painting, sculpture, prints, 1929 Brita Linde, Ernest Thiel och hans konstgalleri, Stockholm, Alb. Bonniers boktryckeri, 1969 Tage Thiel, Ernest Thiel, Vara eller synas vara : minnen och anteckningar avslutade 1946, Stockholm, Carlsson Förlag, 1990 Ulf Linde, Arne Eggum, Edvard Munch och Thielska Galleriet, Stockholm, Atlantis, 2007 Hans-Martin Frydenberg Flaatten, Edvard Munch : måneskinn i Åsgårdstrand, Oslo, Sem Stenersen, 2013 Otto Selén, Edvard Munch : Livets dans , Helsingfors, Didrichsens konstmuseum, 2014 Øystein Ustvedt, Trond Aslaksby, Peter Cripps, Edvard Munch : Det syke barn : historien om et mesterverk, The sick child : the story of a masterpiece, Oslo, Nasjonalmuseet for kunst, arkitektur og design, 2009 Annie Bardon, Arne Eggum, Timo Huusko, Gerd Woll, Munch og Warnemünde : 1907-1908, Oslo, Labyrinth Press, 1999 Rolf E. Stenersen, Hans-Martin Frydenberg Flaatten, Edvard Munch: Close-Up of a Genius, Oslo, Sem og Stenersen, 2013