The National Gallery of Australia has been gifted a famous work by one of the world’s most iconic artists. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
The National Gallery of Australia has been gifted a masterpiece painting described as the most significant acquisition for the national collection in the 21st century.
Philanthropist Geoff Ainsworth is behind the acquisition of Man with horse by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch (1918), which the NGA says joins Jackson Pollock’s Blue poles (1952) in marking a defining moment for the national collection and Australia’s cultural heritage.
The NGA says Man with horse is an important and evocative painting by the renowned Norwegian artist, best known for The scream (1893).
Now on display, “this striking work captures Munch’s bold use of colour, expressive brushwork and symbolist imagery, and is a powerful testament to his exploration of the human and natural world”.
NGA Director Dr Nick Mitzevich said Edvard Munch was one of the most important and influential artists of the 20th century and a painting of his had long been sought for the national collection.
“The National Gallery is grateful to Geoff Ainsworth AM for his gift of this extraordinary painting which will be enjoyed by Australians now and into the future.”
Mr Ainsworth said it was a joy to give Man with horse an enduring home in Australia’s national collection.
“Edvard Munch’s art is celebrated globally, so I am delighted that Australians can from today stand before this masterpiece and experience its luminous beauty and subtle complexity,” he said.
Before coming to Canberra, Man with horse had been in private collections since 1938, and only rarely displayed in public since its creation.
The work has been loaned to important Munch exhibitions in the past 60 years, most recently a major retrospective at the Hangaram Art Museum in Seoul, South Korea, Edvard Munch: Beyond the scream (2024).
Man with a horse, by Edvard Munch. The gift marks defining moment for the national collection and Australia’s cultural heritage. Image: NGA.
The acquisition of a major work by Munch builds on the original vision for the National Gallery.
Inaugural Director James Mollison’s purchases for the national collection in the 1970s put the institution on the map, as he brought the best of world art to Australia and championed the idea that the National Gallery should be a centre for excellence.
Mollison’s ambitions for the collection included European masters not readily available in this country, and his determination led to the acquisition of works by Paul Cézanne, Kasimir Malevich, Natalia Goncharova, Constantin Brancusi, Amedeo Modigliani and Henri Matisse, amongst many others.
The NGA says the painting is a monumental and impressive example of Munch’s work from this period, when he was working on a series of important compositions featuring his white horse named Rousseau.
“Most of the series features Rousseau being put to work, however Man with horse is a rare example of the artist exploring the spiritual relationship between animal and human,” it says.
“Pulled into the pastoral narrative through a distinctive Munch sky, vibrant greens, blues, purples and browns give the landscape a lush, dream-like quality, the swirling lines and textured layers creating a sense of movement and emotional intensity.
“Man with horse offers an expression of renewal and optimism in a fascinating and unexpected context, that is a contrast to the artist’s earlier explorations of dark emotional states and troubled relationships.”
As one of the most influential modern painters, with a career spanning nearly 60 years, Munch’s art was integral to the Symbolism movement in Europe.
He was a key influence on early 20th century Expressionists such as Max Beckmann, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Wassily Kandinsky. Man with horse reflects an important moment in art history and will enrich the national collection for future audiences.
It joins several key prints by Munch in the collection and allows the National Gallery to tell a more complete story of the rise of abstraction in 20th century art.
