The outbreak of World War I threw all of Gabriele Münter’s plans into disarray: her partner, Kandinsky, had to leave Germany immediately. This ultimately created a profound and lasting rift between them. Münter also set out on her own travels and, through the mediation of the Swedish-born gallery owner and patron Nell Walden, made her way to Sweden, where she developed a more refined, distinctive painting style that represented a significant evolution from her productive years in Murnau. In 1916, she embarked on an extended journey from Stockholm to Norway, traveling as far north as Narvik.
There are two known versions of the view of the harbor in Narvik, which differ from one another only in minor details in the figurative elements—with and without a dog—and the bushes in the foreground (see A. Hoberg/H. Friedel (eds.), Gabriele Münter 1877–1962. Retrospektive, exhibition catalog, Lenbachhaus, Munich, and Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt am Main, 1992/93, cat. no. 151 (L. 544)).
Our version, bearing the original sticker from the art exhibition at the gallery “Der Sturm”, appears to be the earlier version, as the lower work number may also suggest. Based on notes and sketches Münter made in Narvik, this version was likely created in Stockholm as early as 1916. The catalog text for the 1992/93 Gabriele Münter exhibition conflates the two versions, as only our version is signed and dated. The other version, which was likely created later, is only signed. The mere fact that Münter painted several nearly identical versions speaks to the great significance the subject held for her. The composition follows the same structure as those of her later Staffelsee paintings. The bird’s-eye view creates a perspective that Münter never actually observed in reality. The long, straight path in the foreground marks a spatial distance from the actual harbor view. Münter often repeated the same subjects, though usually with more drastic variations than in this particular work. [EH]