''Love and Pain'' is an 1895 painting by
Edvard Munch
Edvard Munch ( ; ; 12 December 1863 – 23 January 1944) was a Norwegian painter. His 1893 work ''The Scream'' has become one of Western art's most acclaimed images.
His childhood was overshadowed by illness, bereavement and the dread of inher ...
; it has also been called ''Vampire'', though not by Munch.
The painting depicts a man and woman embracing, with the woman kissing the man on his neck. Munch painted
six different versions of the same subject between 1893 and 1895. Three versions are in the collection of the
Munch Museum
Munch Museum (), marketed as Munch (stylised in all caps) since 2020, is an art museum in Bjørvika, Oslo, Norway dedicated to the life and works of the Norwegian artist Edvard Munch.
The museum was originally located at Tøyen, which was opene ...
in
Oslo
Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...
, one is held by the
Gothenburg Museum of Art
Gothenburg Museum of Art () is located at Götaplatsen in Gothenburg, Sweden. It claims to be the third-largest art museum in Sweden by the size of its collection.
Collections
The museum holds the world's finest collection of late 19th-cen ...
, one is owned by a private collector, and the final work is unaccounted for.
Munch painted several additional versions and derivatives of the work later in his career.
Description
The painting shows a woman with long flame-red hair kissing a man on the neck, as the couple embrace.
[ Although others have seen in it "a man locked in a vampire's tortured embrace – her molten-red hair running along his soft bare skin",][
The painting was first called ''Vampire'' by Munch's friend, the critic ]Stanisław Przybyszewski
Stanisław Przybyszewski (; 7 May 1868 – 23 November 1927) was a Polish novelist, dramatist, and poet of the decadent naturalistic school. His drama is associated with the Symbolist movement. He wrote both in Polish and in German.
Life
Stani ...
. Przybyszewski saw the painting on exhibition and described it as "a man who has become submissive, and on his neck a biting vampire's face."
Versions
A version of the painting was stolen from the Munch Museum on 23 February 1988. It was recovered later the same year, when the thief contacted the police.Sotheby's
Sotheby's ( ) is a British-founded multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine art, fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...
auction, an 1894 version of the painting sold for 38.2 million dollars (24.3 million pounds) and set the world record for the auction of a Munch painting.woodcut
Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas that ...
with a very similar theme and composition, known as ''Vampyr II''.
See also
* List of paintings by Edvard Munch
References
External links
{{Authority control (arts)
1895 paintings
Paintings by Edvard Munch
Paintings in the Munch Museum
Collection of the Gothenburg Museum of Art
Stolen works of art
Recovered works of art
Paintings of people
Paintings of women