Eva Mudocci

Eva Mudocci (1872 – 1953), born Evangeline Hope Muddock, was an English violinist, who toured Europe with the pianist Bella Edwards. She was the friend and probably lover of the artist Edvard Munch.[1]

Eva Mudocci
Edvard Munch, The Brooch/Eva Mudocci, lithograph, 1903
Born
Evangeline Hope Muddock

1872 (1872)
Died1953 (aged 80–81)
NationalityBritish
OccupationViolinist
Partner(s)Bella Edwards, Edvard Munch
ChildrenTwo
Parent(s)J. E. Preston Muddock
Lucy Mary Hann
RelativesDorothy Greenhough-Smith (sister)

Early life

She was born Evangeline Hope Muddock[2] in 1872 in Brixton, London,[3] the daughter of the British journalist and author J. E. Preston Muddock and his wife, Lucy Mary Hann, a violinist.[4]

Career

Mudocci first played the violin in public at the age of nine, as Miss Rose Lynton, which was how she was known for the first decade of her career.[4] As a child, she performed both regionally and nationally within England. Her formal debut was at Prince's Hall on 23 May 1891 in a production that alternated between violin solos, songs, and a quartet by the composer Louis Spohr.[5] Mudocci later met the pianist Bella Edwards, who she later lived with and performed with for five years. She toured Europe with Edwards which brought her critical acclaim.[1][6]

Personal life
Eva Mudocci and Bella Edwards
Violin Concert, lithograph by Edvard Munch, 1903.

Mudocci and Edvard Munch met in 1903, when they were introduced in Paris by the composer Frederick Delius, a friend of Munch.[1][2][7] It is believed that Mudocci and Munch became lovers, and that this relationship continued until 1908/09, and they remained in contact until 1927.[7] Mudocci, who is described as a lesbian, and Bella Edwards were also lovers as well as having a professional musical partnership.[8] Munch made three lithographs of Mudocci, one including Edwards.[8] Mudocci was a muse to Henri Matisse, as well as Munch.[9]

In December 1908, Mudocci gave birth to twins, Isobel and Kai, in a private clinic in Nykøbing Falster, Denmark.[2] It has been speculated that Munch, who was believed to have died childless, was the father of the twins, and in 2012, Mudocci's granddaughter, Janet Weber, was willing to undertake DNA testing to prove this.[2][6]

Death and legacy

Mudocci died in 1953. An unfinished painting, Portrait of Eva Mudocci, in the collection of the Flaten Art Museum at St. Olaf College, Minnesota, in the United States, is generally agreed to be of Mudocci, and probably painted in about 1904–05, but opinion is divided on whether or not it is by Munch.[9][10] In 1959, the painting was sold by the estate of the Danish illustrator Kay Nielsen, a close family friend of Mudocci.[9]

In 1984, Andy Warhol created an acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas artwork, Eva Mudocci (after Munch).[11]

References
  1. "The Brooch. Eva Mudocci, 1903". www.nasjonalmuseet.no.
  2. Brown, Mark; correspondent, arts (August 27, 2012). "Edvard Munch was my grandfather, says Surrey-born nun" – via www.theguardian.com.
  3. Evangeline Hope Muddock England and Wales Birth Registration Index, 1837–2008. Family Search. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
  4. About Eva Mudocci, evamudocci.com Retrieved 24 July 2019.
  5. Hornby, Emma; Maw, David Nicholas (2010). Essays on the History of English Music in Honour of John Caldwell: Sources, Style, Performance, Historiography. Boydell & Brewer. p. 244. ISBN 978-1-84383-535-6.
  6. Shore, Rima (April 29, 2019). "Lady with a Brooch Violinist Eva Mudocci: a Biography and a Detective Story". St. Olaf College. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
  7. SPENS, MICHAEL. "Munch: The Problem With Women". Studio International – Visual Arts, Design and Architecture.
  8. Sophie Fuller; Lloyd Whitesell (2002). Queer Episodes in Music and Modern Identity. University of Illinois Press. p. 95. ISBN 978-0-252-02740-6.
  9. Does a Minnesota college own a portrait by Edvard Munch? Ruth Lopez, The Art Newspaper, 16 April 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
  10. "Did Edvard Munch paint a mystery work at St. Olaf College? That's up for debate". CANVAS Arts. May 14, 2019.
  11. Andy Warhol EVA MUDOCCI (AFTER MUNCH). Sotheby's. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
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