LITERATURE: Gerd Woll: Edvard Munch – Complete Paintings, London 2009.
Gerd Woll: Edvard Munch – The complete graphic Works, Oslo 2012.
Birgit Prestøe, née Olsen (1906-86) was a Norwegian who modelled for Munch from 1924-31, and appears in a large number of his works from this period.
Cf. cat. nos. 718, 719 and 720. (Cf. Eggum 1988; Stenseth 1988). Woll 2012, p. 431 under cat. no. 703: Birgit Prestøe. 1930.
This particular impression of the woodcut was given as a present to Ebba Ridderstad, ref. the provenance. Under cat.no. P 1732 Woll writes:
Ebba Ridderstad contacted Rolf Stenersen in the winter of 1935 to ask the latter to arrange a meeting with Munch. The subsequent portraits of Ridderstad were painted in the winter and spring of that year (Eggum 1994). See also cat.nos. 1733, 1734 and 1735.
Ebba Ridderstad, née Pauli (1899-date of death unknown), Swedish painter, married 1. Carl Riddestad, 2. Gerhard Rappe. Woll 2008, p. 1550.
We have now, through the family, found out that the date of death for Ebba Ridderstad was 2 April 1987.