From Library Journal
This definitive updating and expansion of previous catalogs dating from the 1920s will remain the chief reference for Munch's graphic oeuvre for a long time to come. Woll, the senior curator of prints and drawings at the Munch Museum in Oslo, has spent 15 years studying the 17,000 sheets there and a further 6000 impressions in public and private collections worldwide to establish the 748 separate works representing Munch's graphic production (all are reproduced here, many in color). Appendixes list related drawings, reproductions, fakes, major print exhibitions of Munch's work, and a concordance with the earlier catalogs by Gustav Schiefler. Woll provides a clear and informative 25-page overview of Munch's 50 years of printmaking, but the bulk of the text is the 390 pages of catalog entries. Each entry gives the title in English, Norwegian, and German; date, dimensions, and medium; and a careful physical description of the print and any variants. Four pages of the essay in the review copy were misprinted from the German edition, and though the publisher claims that this problem has been caught, libraries should check their copy on receipt. Despite some other generally minor typographical errors throughout and the volume's high price, this will be absolutely essential for research collections and for those interested in the graphic arts. Jack Perry Brown, Art Inst. of Chicago Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Book Description
Containing more than 1,100 breathtaking reproductions of the entire graphic œuvre of Edvard Munch (1863-1944), this unique and important book is a long-awaited and essential contribution to the literature on Munch and his accomplishments as a printmaker. Nothing this complete, beautiful, and authoritative has ever been published on this enormously popular artist; the only other book available on his graphic works focuses solely on his Symbolist prints. The scholarly text displays the exhaustive research and enormous attention to detail that have earned author Gerd Woll renown as one of the world's most respected art historians. An indispensable tool for professionals, and a stunning art book as well, this will be the standard reference on Munch's graphic work for many years to come. 1,111 illustrations, 250 in full color, 512 pages, 111/2 x 101/2"AUTORBIO: Gerd Woll is senior curator of prints and drawings at the Munch Museum, Oslo, where this vast collection of the artist's prints is housed. She is one of the world's foremost Munch experts and has written extensively on his graphic work.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

This book is a contribution to the literature on Edvard Munch and his activities as a printmaker. It is an invaluable reference work for print experts and Munch enthusiasts alike. Munch's graphic works have fascinated people all over the world for more than a hundred years. He himself arranged a number of exhibitions of his prints and was represented in many print rooms and important private collections in Europe before World War II. When he died in 1944, Munch bequeathed his vast collection of some 18,000 prints to the City of Oslo. In 1963, the Munch-museet opened its doors to the public, and since the bequest has shown Munch's prints in numerous exhibitions. The author's extensive research and the enormous attention to detail in the individual entries will make this the standard reference work for many years to come.

SYNOPSIS

This massive catalogue raisonné, the result of many years of work, contains 1,111 illustrations, including 222 plates in color. It is based on a large number of published and unpublished works and includes works housed in a total of 160 museums and public collections, most of which were examined in person by Woll, who is curator of prints and drawings at the Munch Museum in Oslo and has written extensively on Munch's graphic work for several decades. Preceding the catalogue is her essay on Munch's 50 years of printmaking. Each image in the catalogue is thoroughly detailed in terms of dates, materials, dimensions, printers, and catalogue references; although there is no in-depth discussion of individual subjects (readers are referred to the general Munch literature), there are references to other works of art by Munch with the same or similar subject.

Annotation © Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal