(1863 Løten/Hedmark/Norway - 1944 Ekeby/Oslo) "On the Bridge" ("Auf der Brücke"). Original title chalk lithograph in blue/strong, heavily structured velin, 1912/13. Signed and numbered; printed by Anton Peder Nielsen, Kristiania (Oslo). Catalogue raisonné Woll 416. Munch depicts a compact group of five dominant women facing each other in the foreground. Through the perspective-seeking bridge, the composition is approximately divided in the middle and exerts a strong "depth pull" on the viewer with the following street. The rare graphic, printed in a very small edition, is part of a series of works that includes a significant group of paintings and graphics in which Munch varied the bridge motif with figures. The same motif already appeared in paintings from 1902-1904 (in the Thiel Gallery in Stockholm and in a private collection). In this lithograph, he depicted it in reverse. Since 1901, he has been intensively engaged with the theme "Girls on the Bridge," in other versions "Women on the Bridge" or simply "On the Bridge." It always depicts a group of girls or women who have gathered at the landing stage of Åsgårdstrand. It is likely that Munch's experience of everyday situations in Åsgårdstrand, which he frequently witnessed, influenced this motif: girls and women waiting for their admirers and returning husbands at the pier. Between 1901 and 1940, Munch created various representations of "Girls on the Bridge," including the lithograph presented here, in which he shifted the scene from night to a summery day. The representation measures approximately 38 cm x 53 cm. Framed. On the verso of the backing cardboard, there is a stamp from Grev Wedels Plass Auctioneer, Oslo. Frame. Additional copies of the lithograph can also be found in the collection of the Munch Museum in Oslo. Provenance: Auction "The Annual Norwegian Edvard Munch Sale 2005," Grev Wedels Plass Auctioneer, Oslo, November 29, 2005, Lot 15; Northern German private collection. Lithograph "On the Bridge" in blue on paper. Hand-signed. Printed by Anton Peder Nielsen, Kristiania (Oslo). Woll 416. Provenance: private collection, Northern Germany, acquired by Grev Wedels Plass Auctioneer, Oslo, on November 29, 2005.