7 September 2016: Sotheby’s Prints & Multiples sale in London today raised a total of £4.3 million (est. £2.5-3.7m). Edvard Munch’s rare woodcut, Two Human Beings. The Lonely Ones – purchased directly from the artist in 1942 by one of his most ardent supporters – was driven by bidders to £1.57 million, far exceeding its estimate (£400,000-600,000) and establishing an auction record for a print of this subject by Munch. The morning session was devoted to an important private collection of graphic works by Belgian artist James Ensor, which brought £406,875 (separate top 10 available on request). Overall, 20% of the buyers were new to Sotheby’s.

Séverine Nackers, Head of Prints, Sotheby’s Europe, said: “Today’s sale was led by a group of 20th-century artists who embraced printmaking and elevated this practice to the same level as their work in other media. Munch, Kirchner, Warhol, Picasso and Ensor are universally recognised for their innovations in printmaking – pushing the medium to its greatest effects.”

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