# Edvard Munch artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/edvard-munch/
Profile generated: 2026-04-30T02:19:00.000Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1863-12-12
- Death date: 1944-01-23
- Nationality: Norwegian
- Movements: Symbolism, Expressionism
- Common media: Oil painting, Lithography, Etching, Woodcut, Drawing

## About Edvard Munch

Edvard Munch (1863–1944) was a Norwegian painter and printmaker whose psychologically charged imagery made him a founding figure of modern Expressionism. Born in Ådalsbruk, Norway, Munch trained in Oslo before moving through the artistic centers of Paris and Berlin, where he absorbed Symbolist ideas and developed the emotionally raw visual language for which he is known. His best-known work, The Scream (1893), has become one of the most recognized images in Western art. Across paintings, prints, and drawings, Munch explored themes of anxiety, love, illness, and death with an intensity that anticipated and influenced 20th-century Expressionism. Major museums worldwide hold significant collections of his work, and the Munch Museum in Oslo is dedicated to his legacy. Collectors encounter his work primarily through prints and works on paper at auction.

## Common works and media

Collectors most frequently encounter Munch's lithographs, etchings, and woodcuts at auction, including printed versions of iconic compositions such as The Scream, Madonna, and Vampire. Oil paintings appear rarely and command premium prices. Drawings and works on paper, including pastels and watercolors, also surface periodically. Photographic self-portraits and film stills from Munch's experimental practice are held in museum collections and occasionally appear on the market. Subjects include solitary figures, couples, landscapes of the Norwegian coast, and allegorical scenes drawn from his Frieze of Life series.

## Market and appraisal context

Edvard Munch's auction market is deep and globally distributed, with 1,001 recorded lots spanning 1997 to April 2026, of which 573 carried realized prices. The price distribution is extremely wide: from $10 at the low end to approximately $119.9 million at the high end, reflecting the gulf between editioned prints and rare museum-quality paintings. The interquartile range runs from $2,750 (p25) to $101,575 (p75) with a median of $22,500, indicating that the typical Munch lot at auction is a print or work on paper in the mid-five-figure range. Liquidity remains strong — 88 priced lots appeared in the most recent 12 months, down modestly from 98 the prior year. Major international houses Christie's and Sotheby's dominate the high end, while Norwegian specialist Grev Wedels Plass Auksjoner, German house Grisebach, and regional firms such as Artmark, Swann Auction Galleries, Roseberys, and Rago handle the middle market. Lots titled 'in the manner of' or 'in the style of' Edvard Munch appear regularly in the data, underscoring the importance of attribution verification before any appraisal.

## Auction-house-backed market evidence

Edvard Munch's auction market is deep and globally distributed, with 1,001 recorded lots spanning 1997 to April 2026, of which 573 carried realized prices. The price distribution is extremely wide: from $10 at the low end to approximately $119.9 million at the high end, reflecting the gulf between editioned prints and rare museum-quality paintings. The interquartile range runs from $2,750 (p25) to $101,575 (p75) with a median of $22,500, indicating that the typical Munch lot at auction is a print or work on paper in the mid-five-figure range. Liquidity remains strong — 88 priced lots appeared in the most recent 12 months, down modestly from 98 the prior year. Major international houses Christie's and Sotheby's dominate the high end, while Norwegian specialist Grev Wedels Plass Auksjoner, German house Grisebach, and regional firms such as Artmark, Swann Auction Galleries, Roseberys, and Rago handle the middle market. Lots titled 'in the manner of' or 'in the style of' Edvard Munch appear regularly in the data, underscoring the importance of attribution verification before any appraisal.

### Appraisal notes

Appraisily would use these 1,001 auction records to identify comparable lots by medium, period, subject, edition status, and condition. For prints, the catalogue raisonné reference (e.g., Schiefler numbers visible in recent Christie's and Roseberys lots), impression quality, edition size, and sheet condition are primary value drivers. For oil paintings, provenance depth, exhibition history, and inclusion in the Gerd Woll catalogue raisonné are critical. An appraiser would cross-reference the artist's page-level identity data (Wikidata Q41406, RKD 58436, LoC n79006348) to confirm attribution, then match the specific work against priced comparables from the same medium and date range. The wide price spread means broad artist-level averages are not useful; appraisal value must be anchored to narrowly filtered comparable lots from the same category (e.g., woodcuts from the 1890s Frieze of Life period versus later lithographic reproductions).

### Valuation factors

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### Collector notes

- Munch is one of the most frequently encountered modern masters at auction, but the market is dominated by prints rather than paintings. A collector considering a Munch print should first confirm it is catalogued in Schiefler or Woll, check the specific state and edition, and review condition carefully. Prints of iconic compositions (The Scream, Madonna, Vampire, Melancholy, Anxiety, Jealousy) typically realize $250–$35,000+ depending on medium, period, and impression quality, with Christie's handling the strongest examples. Works listed as 'in the manner of' or 'in the style of' are not by Munch and are generally decorative rather than investment-grade. The slight year-over-year decline in lot volume (98 to 88) does not indicate weakness; it likely reflects normal market variation for an artist whose authentic works are increasingly held in institutions. Norwegian and German regional houses may offer opportunities for prints at lower premiums than London or New York sales, but shipping, authentication, and condition reporting should be verified. Currency diversity across lots (USD, GBP, EUR, NOK, JPY) means cross-rate comparisons are necessary when assessing relative value.

### Market caveats

- The lot count of 1,001 includes works described as 'in the manner of,' 'in the style of,' or 'after' Edvard Munch, which are not authentic works and trade at nominal prices. Attribution must be verified on a per-lot basis.
- Munch's compositions were widely reprinted, copied, and reproduced both during his lifetime and posthumously. Catalogue raisonné inclusion (Schiefler for prints, Woll for paintings) is the primary authentication standard.
- Prices span multiple currencies (USD, GBP, EUR, NOK, JPY), so direct price comparisons require currency normalization to a single base.
- The maximum recorded price (~$119.9M) reflects a single exceptional painting and is not representative of the broader market. The median price of $22,500 and p75 of $101,575 are more useful reference points for most collectors.
- Some recent lots lack realized prices (priceRealised: null), indicating either unsold results or pre-sale estimates. These lots should not be used as pricing comparables.
- Regional auction houses in the dataset vary in cataloguing rigor; lot descriptions from specialist houses (Christie's, Sotheby's, Grev Wedels Plass Auksjoner) tend to include more detail on edition, state, and provenance than generalist houses.

### Market evidence sources

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- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-edvard-munch-satyr-s-head-schiefler-328-1908-1909-5-c-1564c443e2
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-edvard-munch-1863-1944-from-asgardstrand-1907-274-c-56a458c991
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-edvard-munch-1863-1944-melancholy-iii-block-376-x-469-mm-sheet-473-x-65-12-c-77cfe36a3f
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-edvard-munch-1863-1944-tete-a-tete-from-meier-graefe-portfolio-plate-91-c-e76b9f6fa5
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-edvard-munch-1863-1944-expressionist-composition-101-c-73e596fcc5
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-edvard-munch-der-kuss-iv-257-c-7413fe4abe
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-edvard-munch-norwegian-1863-1944-woodcut-521-c-5a442e19f6
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-original-in-the-manner-of-edvard-munch-306-c-8f14a8db6a
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-edvard-munch-1863-1944-in-the-style-of-oil-on-canvas-41-c-1d76a2ef75
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-edvard-munch-signed-etching-209-c-c984127b36
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-edvard-munch-2695-c-d41fab01c2
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-edvard-munch-1863-1944-two-women-on-the-shore-146-c-b1ed0e5f40
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-edvard-munch-1863-1944-jealousy-131-c-4103c9267f
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-edvard-munch-1863-1944-anxiety-117-c-a2182137f0
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-edvard-munch-1863-1944-melancholy-116-c-8ee030595f
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-a-work-by-edvard-munch-315-c-d172c6dcf9

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine artist identity research from museum, library authority, and scholarly sources with auction records, auction-house context, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. For Edvard Munch, this page draws on the Library of Congress authority file, the RKD (Netherlands Institute for Art History), VIAF, Wikidata, Tate, and Wikipedia.

## Sources

- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n79006348
- RKD - Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/58436
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/61624802/
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q41406
- Tate: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/edvard-munch-1678
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edvard_Munch