The Oak

The Oak belongs to a group of works purchased directly from Munch by the Swedish banker Ernest Thiel, who was the artist's most significant patron during the early 1900s and acquired twelve of his oil paintings in that period. Thiel built a dedicated villa on Djurgården island in Stockholm to house his collection, designed by architect Ferdinand Boberg between 1904 and 1907. After Thiel went bankrupt in 1924, the Swedish state acquired the property and collection, and the gallery opened to the public in 1926. The Thiel Gallery now holds the largest collection of Munch's work outside Norway.