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Transfer lithographs and duplicate stones
Everything indicates that Munch must have been aware of transfer
lithography techniques from the start, but it was not until after
1902 that his lithographs were mainly drawn on paper. However, there
are some exceptions, not least the magnificent portrait of Eva Mudocci,
also called The Brooch. This lithograph was originally drawn
directly on the stone, but in 1915 it was printed on transfer paper
sent from Germany to Norway, and transferred to a new stone. Some
details have been changed on the duplicate stone, which was also
printed in fairly large numbers.
In 1909 Munch returned to Norway, and in the next few years he
lived in various places on both sides of the Kristiania Fjord until,
in 1916, he settled down at Ekely on the outskirts of Kristiania.
In around 1910 he came into contact with a lithographer, Anton Peder
Nielsen, who later took the name Kildeborg. Nielsen worked for various
lithographic printers in Kristiania until he established his own
print shop in the 1920s, and became an invaluable assistant to Munch
when it came to printing lithographs and woodcuts. In 1912 Munch
installed a lithographic press at Hvitsten and in 1916 he set up
a graphic workshop in the cellar at Ekely. Nielsen often visited
him there and printed on Munch's press.
While transfer lithographs still prevailed, it can also be seen
that both in 1912 and in 1916 Munch was working directly on stone,
as he also did occasionally around 1930.
By the outbreak of the First World War,
most of Munch's stones were at Lassally´s in Berlin, and this
caused him a great deal of worry. This was partly because, naturally
enough, he was uncertain about what might happen to them and
also because it became impossible for him to order new reprints
from Germany after the outbreak of war.
During the first months of the war he succeeded in having all his
woodblocks and metal plates sent home from Germany and probably
all the stones that he had transferred from Paris. In 1917 he received
five stones from Lasally while the others were destroyed by having
a cross scratched into them once Munch had ensured that he had prints
for transferring to duplicate stones at home in Norway. Many of
his lithographs may therefore have been printed by Clot, Lassally
and Nielsen - either from the original stone, or from the duplicate
stone - over a period of 20 years.
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