Study for a Portrait

The painting depicts Betzy Nilsen, a young woman who was a model for several of Munch's works in the years around 1886, including for the paintings Rødhåret pike med hvit rotte (Red-Haired Girl with White Rat) (1886, Woll 2008, M 131), The Sick Child (The National Museum, NG.M.00839) and Spring ((National Museum, NG.M.00408). The muted colour scheme and the emphasis on the girl's bright face are typical of Munch's early portraits, although the execution is freer. The pale, pastose treatment of the face and the red hair contrast with the greyish-green of the wall-like background. Stylistically, the work has something in common with paintings such as The Sick Child and Self-Portrait (The National Museum, NG.M.01915), both from 1886.

Munch produced a number of similar small portraits and study heads in the years around 1886. There are reasons to regard the painting as an independent portrait, but the combination of the girl's loose hair, remote expression and pale skin also attract comparison with his depictions of ailing girls. Munch became acquainted with Betzy Nilsen via his father's work as a visiting doctor. For a time she also worked as a maid in the Munch household (Dagbladet, 30 December 1950). The facial features are similar to those of the young girl in Spring and The Sick Child. The work was stolen from the National Gallery on 23 August 1993 and has not been recovered. Exhibited for the first time in 1927, it was long assumed to be a preliminary study for The Sick Child. Accordingly, it was dated to 1885. But subsequent X-ray analysis revealed a signature that had been puttied and painted over and which indicates 1887 to be the earliest possible year of production (Plahter 1974). The painting was among the works that Olaf Schou gifted to the National Gallery in 1909.

Øystein Ustvedt

The text was first published in Edvard Munch in the National Museum. A comprehensive overview (Oslo: National Museum, 2022).

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