Sketch for ‘Midsummer Eve Bonfire’

There are no known descriptions or photographs of this painting, but the title indicates that it is one of Astrup’s many midsummer eve bonfire pictures.

In 1952, Kitty Kamstrup (1862–1953) loaned this Astrup painting to an exhibition of works from her own collection held at Kunstnerforbundet (artists’ association) in Oslo. The information about the work in the catalogue was sparing, indicating only the technique used: “oil”. Astrup had a close relationship to Kamstrup from the foundation of the artists’ association in 1910 until his death in the 1920s. Astrup was a member of the association and held solo exhibitions there in 1911 and 1918, as well as participating in several group exhibitions. The correspondence between Astrup and Kamstrup contains no information about the paintings in her collection. It is therefore unknown when and how Kamstrup came into possession of this picture.

One possible match is “Study for 'Midsummer Eve Bonfire'” (U055). According to Astrup’s list from 1927, that was a study for Midsummer Eve Bonfire (K55). It is reasonable to believe that Astrup would have known if Kamstrup owned this painting, but he did not provide any information about that in his list of works. The history of the study listed by the artist in 1927 is unknown, but it may have been bought by Kamstrup after the artist’s death.

Kamstrup died the year after the exhibition at Kunstnerforbundet, in 1953. It is not known what happened to her art collection. The history of the work before and after 1952 is therefore unknown.