Comment:
In 1917 Norwegian painters were invited to participate in a competition to decorate the Bergen Stock Exchange. Unlike the Aula competition, this time it was open to all Norwegian artists, and there was a clear programme for the decoration. It had to be executed al fresco or with matt oil on canvas, and it was stressed that the motifs should have a natural and obvious relevance to the hall’s stated function as a stock exchange; that is, as the centre of Bergen’s trade, shipping and industrial enterprises.


In Munch’s sketchbooks there is a series of very detailed drafts that must have been made with the Bergen Stock Exchange in mind. None of them are dated, but it seems likely that they stem from 1918, the final period before the competition deadline expired 20.10.1918. Munch’s sketches comply incredibly well with the format and theme specified in the competition.


The rounded panels are shaped more or less like the competition drafts of the other artists, and the motifs are all based on the City of Bergen. Many of them are straightforward historical scenes – somewhat similar to what he had created in the woodcuts based on Ibsen’s "The Pretenders", made shortly before. Other sketches show a clearer "commercial" profile, with some of them verging on a direct cliché symbolism with naked figures and fish.

Despite the nearly fifty more or less developed drawings, there is no evidence that he actually sent in his proposal to the competition, so these sketches will remain a mere digression in Munch’s work on monumental projects. (GW)