Famous Artist Friday - Edvard Munch

Symbolism - Life Pain and Suffering

 “Nature is not only all that is visible to the eye, it also included the inner pictures of the soul”.  Edvard Munch

Those are all words that describe the art and life of Edvard Munch.

Norwegian expressionist painter.  Born in Norway in 1863 in what is today known as Oslo.

Self Portrait - 1881

Munch is related to famous painters, Jacob and Peter Munch so art was in his blood always.  His mother died when Munch was five of tuberculosis and he was raised by a mentally ill religious zealot father.  Munch’s father raised the children with deep seated fears and emotions and it is evident in the dark tones of some of his paintings.  As Munch grew up he had many deep seated repressed emotions.

Girl On The Beach 1896

In 1885 Munch traveled to Paris and was greatly influenced by Monet and Manet and then later by Van Gogh, Cezanne, and Gaugin.  Munch’s style is very post-impressionism and would remain so even as he took on a symbolistic style.

Melancholy 1894

Between 1892 and 1908, Munch split his time between Paris and Berlin where he worked to hone his craft and style and formulated his own thoughts on life and how it influenced his art.  In 1909 he returned to Norway after what appeared to be a mental breakdown, where his palette lightened up and he added more light and fun to his work.  Munch remained in Norway until his death in 1944.

Munch, though post impressionism inspired, his work fell more into the symbolist genre’.  His work was more cerebral and believed that  art should be more about the internal view of the objects and not just what the object looked like.

Much of Munch’s work depicts opposites such as life and death, love and terror and the feeling of loneliness was often found.  His mother died of tuberculosis when he was five and his sister Sophie died of the same disease when he was 13.  He painted many paintings of the sick and the dying including Death In The Sickroom and The Sick Child.  Munch is often compared to Van Gogh and his need to paint what is called “the mysterious centers of the mind”.  

Death in the Sick Chamber

Upon his death in 1944, Munch did not give his art work to his family but donated an enormous amount of art including over 1000 paintings, 15,400 prints, 4,500 drawings and water colors and six sculptures were donated to the Norwegian government to be enjoyed by all.  The government created the Munch Museum of Art with his great donation.  

Jealousy 1907

I really liked the green face of the man who is obviously jealous of the woman in the background.  The green face tells you all you have to know.

The Lonely Ones 1935

In The Lonely Ones, you almost feel that this couple had a recent disagreement but it doesn't give you a hint of whether the problem is resolved or if it is a portrait of love lost.

While looking at Munch’s art, you see his fascination with people and what might be going on internally as well as the scene itself.  He has lots of work that is very representational but on close examination you will see a lot of symbolism in his work as well.  The first painting I saw as I began to research him was “The Scream” which obviously was used in much more modern times for horror films.  It was almost shocking to see it in his work.

The Scream 1895

I chose this drawing rather than the painting because the painting did not show up as well as the drawing.

Most of the information for this article came from www.edvardmunch.org.  You can see much more of his art on that site.

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