Edvard Munch as Photographed for his 75th Birthday, 1938: Strategies in Defense of a Legacy

Abstract

In collaboration with photographer Ragnvald Væring, in 1938 Edvard Munch had himself photographed on the occasion of his 75th birthday. More than simple commemorations or visual documentation of his continuing life and health, the photographs – intended for publication – reveal Munch not as artist but as curator, concerned with the preservation of his art at a time when his work was removed from German museums and his position in history appeared threatened.

Keywords

• Edvard Munch
• Ragnvald Væring
• Portrait photographs
• Entartete Kunst
• Art exhibitions
• City Hall