This December, Sotheby’s will offer one of the most evocative landscapes by Norwegian artist Harald Sohlberg ever to come to auction. In excellent condition and never seen on the market before, From Værvågen, The Fisherman’s Cottage marks the culmination on a grand scale of Sohlberg’s aim to capture on canvas the reaction he experienced standing before the sublime scale of nature. Known and loved in Norway but rarely seen at international auction, the last time a Sohlberg of comparable importance came to the market was at Sotheby’s in 1999, achieving a record price for the artist. Estimated at £600,000-800,000, the painting is set to establish a new auction record for Sohlberg at Sotheby’s sale of 19th Century European Paintings in London on 14 December 2016.

Claude Piening, Head of 19th Century European Paintings, Sotheby’s London, said: “From Værvågen is a powerful fusion of Romanticism and Expressionism, exuding a sense of awe in the face of the vastness of nature but also an intense feeling of longing and belonging. Large-scale landscapes by Sohlberg appear on the market only very rarely. As well as its rarity, the painting is also distinguished by its impeccable provenance and untouched original condition, having remained until today in the possession of the family of its first owner.”

Ingeborg Astrup, Head of Sotheby’s Oslo, said: “Sohlberg has long been one of Norway’s most treasured artists, and we look forward to reintroducing him to a wider international audience by exhibiting this major work in London ahead of the sale.”

Painted in 1921, the landscape – measuring 94 by 121 cm – was acquired from Sohlberg by Alfred W.G. Larsen, manager of a leading company in the import of wine and spirits in Norway, whose sister Tulla had an infamous and tempestuous relationship with Edvard Munch, culminating in the infamous shooting accident in which Munch injured two fingers. Throughout his career, Sohlberg repeatedly denied any claims that he was under the influence of Munch, six years his senior. The younger artist’s ‘mood-painting’ had less of a psychological component that Munch’s, but a comparison with the titan of Norwegian art has proven irresistible. An exhibition exploring their relationship was held in New York in 1995, titled Munch/Sohlberg: Landscapes of the Mind. Sohlberg’s vivid palette and sinuous lines in general, and particularly the spreading branches of the tree in From Værvågen, The Fisherman’s Cottage, bear more than a passing resemblance to the ash tree in Munch’s mural History, from the Aula of Oslo University.