{"product_id":"four-girls-in-asgardstrand-edvard-munch-1902-elliott-best-restored-masters","title":"Four Girls in Åsgårdstrand - Edvard Munch · 1902 · Elliott Best Restored Masters","description":"\u003cp\u003eSix ochre buttons run down the smallest girl’s coat, each nearly the size of her palm. Above them, a white bonnet frames her solemn face. She stands between three girls in dark hats, all four lined up against a golden wall. Their clothes give the portrait a certain formality, but anyone who has ever tried to get four children to look in the same direction will recognise the moment Munch caught.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe original painting\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003eFire piker i Åsgårdstrand\u003c\/em\u003e, oil on canvas, 89.5 × 125.5 cm. Collection of the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Germany. Catalogue raisonné, Woll M 544. The work is also known as \u003cem\u003eThe Four Bugge Sisters\u003c\/em\u003e. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe children of Åsgårdstrand\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAround the turn of the twentieth century, the children of Åsgårdstrand, a small Norwegian coastal village, became a recurring subject for Munch. Among his models were neighbours’ children, whom he painted against the yellow wall of his own house. He returned to the four-girl composition in two canvases in 1903 and took it up again twenty years after this painting for the \u003cem\u003eFreia Frieze\u003c\/em\u003e. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eBringing the Original Vision Closer to View\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor this \u003cstrong\u003eEB Restoration Signature™\u003c\/strong\u003e edition, we worked from a digital reproduction to bring out the subtle browns and plums within the dark clothing. The effect is clearest in the leftmost girl’s dress, where long, uneven strokes suggest folds from shoulder to hem. The faces read a little more clearly in the remaster, while their differing expressions and the loose marks around their hands retain the intimacy of the group.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eCurator’s Note\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMy eye goes first to the white bonnet, but it’s the girl on the far right who keeps me looking. Her hands are folded neatly at her waist, exactly as you might expect for a portrait. Her eyes, meanwhile, have slipped sideways towards the others. That glance makes me wonder what happened just before they all stood still.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Elliott Best","offers":[{"title":"COLLECTOR – 11x14in \/ 28x36cm","offer_id":48489679061163,"sku":null,"price":79.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"GALLERY – 18x24in \/ 46x61cm","offer_id":48490947248299,"sku":null,"price":99.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"STATEMENT – 36x48in \/ 91x122cm","offer_id":48490947281067,"sku":null,"price":119.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0512\/7621\/8539\/files\/923603e0-d62a-11f1-9d17-8771d254c916.jpg?v=1793563563","url":"https:\/\/elliottbest.com\/products\/four-girls-in-asgardstrand-edvard-munch-1902-elliott-best-restored-masters","provider":"Elliott Best","version":"1.0","type":"link"}