From mid October 2005 until mid January, Munch’s paintings The Sun and Alma Mater underwent a process of conservation in the lecture hall of the Munch Museum, where the paintings are normally on display. The conservation of the paintings was a collaboration between The Norwegian Institute of Cultural Heritage (NIKU) and the Conservation Department of the City of Oslo Art Collections.
The Sun (in the Munch Museum's lecture hall)
Alma Mater / The Researchers (in the Munch Museum lecture hall)
After many years abroad Munch returned home to Norway in May 1909. He moved to Kragerø in the south of Norway and built his first outdoor studio there. He began work straight away on his competition proposal for the decoration of the recently built University Hall in Kristiania (Oslo). In the end Munch won the competition, although he met great resistance. In 1916 the commission was finished. It consisted of the monumental paintings The History, The Sun, and Alma Mater. New tendencies in his painting technique can be seen in these works, which are regarded as some of the most important monumental paintings in Norway. In parallel with the sketches Munch was doing for the University Hall commission, he was working with landscape painting, developing a similar means of expression. The motifs were often the skerries and the woods around Kragerø.
The paintings are in a bad condition. Paint is coming away from the surface and being lost. The aim of the project is to ensure that the paintings survive for future generations, by eliminating the cause of the damage and attaching any loose paint.
The visible changes will be minimal. The paintings will be cleaned, removing any surface dirt. Some of the damage that has occurred since Munch’s death will be camouflaged by re-touching and the water stains on The Sun that have occurred since Munch’s death will, if possible, be “moved” to less visible areas of the painting.
The conservation work will take place in the lecture hall, because the paintings are too large to be taken out through the doors. This gives the public the chance to follow the work as observers and to ask those carrying out the conservation any questions they might have. Questions may be addressed to the conservation staff every Tuesday and Thursday between 13.30 -14.00. It is also possible to follow the work as it is carried out on the Museum’s website.
The conservation work will be carried out by the project leader, Mille Stein and the painting conservators Jørgen Solstad, Thierry Ford, Kristin Solberg and Helen Davis (NIKU). A painting conservator from the Conservation Department of the City of Oslo’s Art Collections will also work with the team at all times.
The conservation team (from left): Jørgen Solstad (NIKU), Thierry Ford (NIKU), Eva Storevik Tveit (The Munch Museum), Kristin Solberg (NIKU), Mille Stein (project leader, NIKU), Erika Sandbakken Gohde (The Munch Museum), Helen Davis (NIKU/UK) og Jin Ferrer (The Munch Museum). Not in photo: Christina Spaarschuh (NIKU) and Inger Grimstad (The Munch Museum). |
