Max Linde

Max Linde by Edvard Munch from 1904, formerly in the Munich Central Collecting Point — indicating it passed through the Nazi confiscation and restitution process after World War II — depicts Munch's principal German patron in a culminating portrait of their relationship. Dr. Max Linde, an ophthalmologist in Lübeck, was among the most important figures in Munch's German career: he bought paintings, commissioned works including the Linde Frieze, wrote the first monograph on Munch's work, and provided the artist with a stable and supportive base in northern Germany. This 1904 portrait, made in the final phase of their close patronage relationship, represents Munch's definitive engagement with Linde's character.

Munch renders Linde with the full directness of his mature portrait practice — a psychological engagement with the sitter that goes beyond social description to reveal character. His handling here would be consistent with the confident, somewhat austere portrait style of his German period, using strong tonal modeling and minimal background detail.