LONDON, 14 December 2016: Today at Sotheby’s in London, a new auction record for Norwegian artist Harald Sohlberg was set when From Værvågen, The Fisherman’s Cottage sold for £1,208,750 (12.9 million NOK), double its pre-sale estimate (£600,000-800,000). The evocative landscape marks the culmination on a grand scale of Sohlberg’s aim to capture on canvas his experience standing before the sublime scale of nature. Known and loved in Norway but rarely seen at international auction, the last time a Sohlberg of comparable importance came to the market was at Sotheby’s in 1999, achieving a then-record price for the artist of £535,000. This 'once in a generation' masterpiece led Sotheby’s sale of 19th Century European Paintings.

Claude Piening, Head of 19th Century European Paintings, Sotheby’s London, said: “From Værvågen is a powerful fusion of Romanticism and Expressionism, exuding a sense of awe in the face of the vastness of nature but also an intense feeling of longing and belonging. Large-scale landscapes by Sohlberg appear on the market only very rarely. As well as its rarity, the painting is also distinguished by its impeccable provenance and untouched original condition, having remained until today in the possession of the family of its first owner.”

Ingeborg Astrup, Head of Sotheby’s Oslo, said: “Works of this quality and scale rarely come to the market. It was wonderful to see the painting admired in both Europe and the US, from which it attracted significant bidding. As when the last comparable work appeared at auction, at Sotheby’s in 1999, a new record was set, bearing witness to the continuing appeal of the artist’s singular aesthetic.”

Painted in 1921, the landscape – measuring 94 by 121 cm – was acquired from Sohlberg by Alfred Larsen, a prominent Norwegian wine merchant, whose sister Tulla had a tempestuous relationship with Edvard Munch, culminating in the infamous shooting accident in which Munch injured two fingers. Throughout his career, Sohlberg repeatedly denied any claims that he was under the influence of Munch, six years his senior. The younger artist’s ‘mood-painting’ had less of a psychological component that Munch’s, but a comparison with the titan of Norwegian art has proven irresistible. An exhibition exploring their relationship was held in New York in 1995, titled Munch/Sohlberg: Landscapes of the Mind. Sohlberg’s vivid palette and sinuous lines in general, and particularly the spreading branches of the tree in From Værvågen, The Fisherman’s Cottage, bear more than a passing resemblance to the ash tree in Munch’s mural History, from the Aula of Oslo University.