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A woman’s face in three quarter profile with a shoreline behind her

We see the head and shoulders of a woman in the extreme foreground at lower center left, standing among some large rocks. She has long straight dark hair and pronounced dark circles around her eyes as she stares beyond us to the right. Behind her head, a shore line curves in first from the left toward the center, and then back in a straight line toward the left again. Orange sky and clouds stretch across the top, while the sea and the shore are a greenish blue. The woman’s face is also the same pale orange, and a wood grain texture can be seen throughout the image.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
2012.261
People
Edvard Munch, Norwegian (Loiten, Norway 1863 - 1944 Ekely, Norway)
Title
Woman's Head against the Shore
Other Titles
Former Title: Girl's Head on the Shore
Original Language Title: Kvinnehode mot stranden
Classification
Prints
Work Type
print
Date
1899
Culture
Norwegian
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/343026

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Woodcut printed in turquoise-green and pale and dark orange inks on off-white wove paper
Technique
Woodcut
Dimensions
image: 46 x 41 cm (18 1/8 x 16 1/8 in.)
sheet: 60.2 x 48.2 cm (23 11/16 x 19 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • inscription: lower sheet margin below right corner of block, graphite: Edv. Munch
  • inscription: verso, graphite: 66
  • inscription: lower right corner of sheet, graphite: 1 [in a circular borderline]

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Sotheby Park Bernet, NY. Philip and Lynn Straus (1972-2012); Lynn Straus, gift; to the Harvard Art Museums, 2012.

State, Edition, Standard Reference Number

State
Woll II.3
Standard Reference Number
Woll 152, Schiefler 129

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Lynn G. Straus in memory of Philip A. Straus
Accession Year
2012
Object Number
2012.261
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
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Publication History

  • Elizabeth Prelinger, Edvard Munch: Master Printmaker, exh. cat., W. W. Norton & Company and Harvard University Art Museums, Busch-Reisinger Museum (New York and London, 1983), pl. 76
  • Elizabeth Prelinger, Guide to the Exhibition "Edvard Munch: Master Printmaker. Prints from The Philip and Lynn Straus Collection", brochure, Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 1983), checklist

Exhibition History

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Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu