Munch's portrait of Felix Auerbach latest acquisition for Van Gogh Museum

The Van Gogh Museum has further enriched its collection with a painting by Edvard Munch. The German physicist Felix Auerbach commissioned his portrait from the Norwegian painter in 1906. The work went on public display for the first time this morning, which marks the 74th anniversary of Munch’s death. The painting is the only Munch portrait in a Dutch collection and this is also the first time it has been shown in the Netherlands. The monumental portrait, painted in expressive colours, is characteristic of Munch’s oeuvre and fits seamlessly into the Van Gogh Museum’s collection. There are striking parallels between both the work and the lives of Vincent van Gogh and Edvard Munch. ‘To be able to enrich our collection with a marvellous painting by Munch in which his affinity with Van Gogh is also clearly visible, is the fulfilment of a long-cherished dream’, museum director Axel Rüger says. The portrait of