Munch's Vampire to be auctioned

Edvard Munch's 1894 masterpiece Vampire is to be sold after more than 70 years in the hands of a private collector.

Vampire, often seen as the sister of Munch's iconic painting The Scream, will be auctioned at Sotheby's, in New York, for an estimated $35m (£19m).

It would smash the existing Munch record of $30.8m (£16.65m) set in May for Girls on a Bridge.

Vampire provoked controversy when it was first unveiled, stoking early-20th Century fears about women's liberation.

It depicts a man and woman locked in an embrace and represents themes of love, sex and death.

'Intense feelings'

The painting will go on public display at Sotheby's in London from 3-7 October, and in Moscow from 16-19 October, before being auctioned on 3 November.

Simon Shaw, senior vice president and head of Sotheby's Impressionist and Modern Art Department in New York, said: "Few paintings pack as hard a punch as Munch's Vampire.

"Like The Scream, it distils extraordinarily intense feelings into a simple, unforgettable motif.

"The lovers, locked in their dark embrace, evoke love's paradox as a source of tenderness and pain."

Emmanuel Di-Donna, vice-chairman, Impressionist and Modern Art Worldwide, said: "This painting could not have come on to the auction market at a better time.

"International buyers have already witnessed the potential of a great Munch with Girls on the Bridge which Sotheby's sold last May for over $30m.

"The November sale represents a unique opportunity for those collectors who are avidly seeking a masterpiece as powerful and emotionally charged as some of the greatest works by Bacon, Freud and Hirst that have been making headlines in recent auction seasons."

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