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.

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

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. 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.

Personal life

Mudocci and Edvard Munch met in 1903, when they were introduced in Paris by the composer Frederick Delius, a friend of Munch. It is believed that Mudocci and Munch became lovers, and that this relationship continued until 1908/09, and they remained in contact until 1927. Munch made three lithographs of Mudocci, one including Edwards.

In December 1908, Mudocci gave birth to twins, Isobel and Kai, in a private clinic in Nykøbing Falster, Denmark. In 1959, the painting was sold by the estate of the Danish illustrator Kay Nielsen, a close family friend of Mudocci.