EDVARD MUNCH (1863-1944) Autograph letter signed Addressed to his friend, the Norwegian painter Henrik Lund (1879-1935) in Christiania, Tostrupgaardens Hotel. Copenhagen, 28. II. 1909

1 page with address, postage, postmarks and pencil inscription in another hand «Keysers gd 9 III Hamsun» on the reverse. 6.5 x 12.8 cm. Rounded corners and dotted edges. Document known as «letter-card». Paper sheet, thin card, folded in two and sealed by folding back its dotted and gummed edges, guaranteeing, like a letter, the secrecy of the correspondence. It is opened by cutting the edges along the small perforations made in the dotted lines. Munch asks his friend for help in recovering a painting from the Blomqvist auction house in Christiania. At the time of this letter, Munch was preparing his first major exhibition while trying to cope with his nervous and alcohol problems by taking a cure at Frederiksberg Hospital in Copenhagen under the direction of Dr. Daniel Jacobson (1861-1939), Danish psychiatrist and professor. Munch also painted Jacobson’s portrait. At the same time his artistic achievement was finally recognized: while he was still in the hospital, he was awarded the Norwegian Order of Saint Olav.