Comment:
Munch did not draw many typical caricatures during the 1880s, but here Johan Sverdrup gets a going-over. It’s possible that it was executed when Sverdrup was Prime Minister in 1884, but most likely after he had a falling out with the radical wing. He sailed on a wave of enthusiasm after his decisive role in the national court against the Selmer government and the introduction of a parliamentary form of governance. His popularity among radical artists ceased abruptly, however, after the rejection of a writer’s stipend for the renowned Norwegian writer Alexander Kielland in 1885, and in particular after the seizure of Hans Jæger’s novel "Fra Kristiania-bohemen" that same year. The format and execution suggest that Munch had possibly made this caricature with the intention of publishing it in a newspaper.