Max Linde in Sailing Outfit

Max Linde in Sailing Outfit by Edvard Munch from 1904, held at the Munch Museum, shows his patron in the leisure costume of the bourgeois German yachtsman — sailing clothes being the informal attire of a prosperous man at his coastal or lake resort. The informal sailcloth and maritime dress contrast with the formal professional dress of Linde's official portrait, showing the same sitter in his leisure persona. Munch's interest in documenting the full social life of his subjects — professional, domestic, and recreational — is evident in the multiple portraits he made of Linde across different settings and costumes. The sailing outfit places Linde in the wealthy north German leisure culture of the Kaiser Wilhelm era.

The informal sailing outfit gives Munch more latitude to render the figure in a relaxed posture less constrained by professional convention. His handling of the light fabric of sailing clothes uses his characteristically fluid, directional strokes that suggest the casual quality of the informal portrait.