Edvard Munch
Below are a few words on Munch. I expect I will add more over time.
Who was Munch?
From what I have gathered, Munch seems to have lived a fairly solitary life. My understanding is that he was successful enough to live, but he cared little for selling his work which had a following. If he did sell a work, it is said he would feel the loss and then paint another copy of it.
I’ve read in a couple of spots that Munch would ‘petina’ his paintings by leaving them outside in the weather. Some of his work would be outside for months at a time.
I think that for his entire life, Munch was repeatedly psychologically traumatized. His mother and sister died while he was a young person and he revisited this over and over again in his work.
I have read that Munch was a very heavy drinker. I’m getting the impression so far that he was a sad lonely person who used paintings as a means to explore his inner brokenness.
The Scream 1893
Everyone knows the Scream.
I like this painting. I also like his other work, though I don’t think anything else he did would be recognized by a wider audience.
It took me a while to get beyond this iconic image to fully appreciate what a powerhouse Munch was as an artist.
What I appreciate about Much include his penchant for redoing the same work over and over again. (He did several versions of the Scream). Down below you can see one of my favorite paintings by Munch where he is capturing the qualities of moonlight with his Saint Cloud series showing a man by a window contemplating things. His doing several renditions of a work was a typical practice for Munch.
Below are a few example landscapes that I admire. There are 1000s of Munch drawings and paintings that can be found at his catalog raisonne.
Munch, the Fight 1935
Make it stand out
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Liggende Hester Pa En Eng I Maneskinn’ - 1917-20
This work is unusual for Munch. I don’t recall his using shapes like this anywhere else.
Current Opinions on Munch
(Note: My opinions change over time)
I seem to always find more to appreciate about Munch when I spend time looking at what he did. I don’t think that any of his works are readily accessible. By this I mean that none of his works are pieces that make you stop and get the gestalt impact (other than the Scream paintings). Instead his works require the viewer to take the time to look at them before they start impacting a person.
