Edvard Munch
On this day in 1863, the Norwegian artist Edvard Munch was born. He has become synonymous with The Scream, one of the most famous and haunting paintings of Expressionist art.
The painting we present today was created in 1899. From 1892 to 1896, Munch lived in Berlin. While there, he absorbed strong impulses from the literary and intellectual community that frequented the Zum Schwarzen Ferkel tavern. Members included August Strindberg, the Norwegian sculptor Gustav Vigeland, the Norwegian music student Dagny Juell, and Juell’s husband, the Polish author Stanisław Przybyszewski. This group was interested in the creative and destructive powers of love, and in femininity and masculinity. They were also very interested in intellectuals such as Schopenhauer and Nietzsche. The Berlin community furthered Munch’s interest in exploring the joys and disappointments of love. Munch never married, and his love life was often tumultuous. In 1902, a relationship with young, wealthy Tulla Larsen ended with a gunshot wound to a finger on Munch’s left hand. The details surrounding the incident are still unresolved.
His haunting paintings about love are always about sorrow and anxiety.
See you tomorrow!
P.S. Read here about the mysterious road from Edvard Munch’s The Scream.