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Very
early in his career, Munch achieved an unrivalled
position in Norwegian and international artistic
life, even though he, like so many others, met
with grudging reviews when he began participating
in exhibitions. At the age of only 26, he held
his first retrospective exhibition, at the premises
of the students' society Studentersamfunnet
in Kristiania (Oslo). Admittedly the commotion
surrounding his first exhibition in Berlin,
held at the Verein Berliner Künstler in 1892,
was a sore point in his early career, and yet
it made him famous. The show had to close a
few days after it opened because the public
was so dissatisfied.
However, he soon acquired international recognition
to an extent never matched by any other Norwegian
painter. A few facts can illustrate how esteemed
he was. Before Munch died in January 1944, he
had willed his large collection of pictures
and uncatalogued biographical and literary notes
to the City of Oslo. Consequently, the Munch
Museum, dedicated in 1963, has a unique collection
of Munch's art and other material which illuminates
all phases of the artistic process. The National
Gallery in Oslo also has an exquisite Munch
collection particularly rich in main, early
paintings.
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