The Harvard Art Museums in Cambridge, Massachusetts, have significantly expanded their Edvard Munch collection with a major bequest from longtime New York–based donors Lynn and Phillip Straus, the latter of whom is a Harvard alum. The donation—62 prints and two paintings—means that Harvard now has one of the largest collections of work produced by the Norwegian painter in the US.
As part of the gift, one of the key pieces by Munch entering the museum collection is Two Human Beings (The Lonely Ones), from 1906–8. In a statement, Lynette Roth, curator at the Harvard-run Busch-Reisinger Museum, said that work in particular was done at a time when Munch was exploring alienation.
The gift also includes six prints from a related series, multiple versions of Vampire II and Madonna, asand early self-portraits.
The Strauses have given 117 Munch works to Harvard over the last four decades. They have also funded conservation and curatorial initiatives, which are endowed as part of a research institute in their name.
The director of Harvard’s museums, Sarah Ganz Blythe, who joined the institution in June after leaving RISD, said that the Strauses paid attention to thematic shifts when they were actively buying works by Munch, making their donation particularly important. The financial value of the donation was not disclosed in Harvard’s announcement.
