Edvard Munch at the Courtauld

Edvard Munch

The Norwegian painter Edvard Munch 1863-1944 was one of the most innovative and influential artists of the modern period. Throughout his career, Munch strove to find new ways of expressing emotions and psychological states. His paintings explore profound themes of human existence, from love and desire to anxiety and death. 

Edvard Munch:

From 'The Frieze of Life' to the New Century

In the 1890s and into the new century, Edvard Munch worked between Germany. Norway and France and travelled extensively elsewhere in Europe. During these years, he produced a series of remarkable paintings that he later exhibited as "The frieze of life'.

Several other of the works from this famous group - and others related to it- are shown in this room. Munch intended these paintings to convey different aspects of human emotion and experience entwining feelings of love and desire with those of anxiety and a fascination with death. Munch often drew on memories of profound events in his life. From the loss of family members in childhood to his turbulent relationships with women as a young man.

When Rasmus Meyer began collecting Munch's work in 1906 he recognised the importance of 'The Frieze of Life' paintings and acquired major examples. However, Meyer also appreciated Munch's more recent work. As he became friendly with the artist, he was able to buy new paintings directly from Munch's studio. These works from the first decade of the twentieth century show Munch taking fresh artistic directions. Inspired by ideas about human vitality and the regenerative powers of nature, Munch brightened his palette and his brushwork became more vigorous.

In Meyer's collection, this approach is epitomised by his paintings of bathers and especially by the remarkable self-portrait Munch completed in 1909 whilst recovering from a nervous breakdown a work that heralds the beginnina of a new era for the artist

SUMMER NIGHT. INGER ON THE BEACH

1889

Oil paint on canvas

Summer Night depicts Edvard Munch'ssister Inger sitting on the shoreline of the Norwegian fishing town of Asgärdstrand, where the artist often spent summers. Munch presents Inger absorbed in thought. The setting reinforces this contemplative mood through the subtle rendering of the evening light and the smoothed, simplified forms of the boulders. The painting is often considered to be the moment Munchfound his unique artistic voice. The fusion between the figure's emotional state and her surroundings, as well as the technique of distilling essential shapes and colours, became characteristic features of Munch'swork, as with Melancholy (displayed nearby).

MOONLIGHT ON THE BEACH

1892

Oil paint on canvas

In this painting of Asgärdstrand's shoreline on the Oslo Fjord, the scene appears at once familiar and otherworldly. The unexpected, repeated chain of moons in the centre and the strange effects of the evening light create a mysterious atmosphere. This is heightened by the distant lone boat - the only sign of human presence. Here, Edvard Munch moves away from his earlier, Impressionist-inspired paintings, in which he sought to capture the natural effects of sunlight. He uses moonlight in a highly expressive way to convey mood and emotion. This work was included in Munch's breakthrough exhibition at an artists' association in Berlin in 1892. The show was condemned by some of the members for its poor taste and closed after just one week, earning Munch great notoriety.

MELANCHOLY

1894-96

Oil on canvas

As with Summer Night (displayed neatey), Ederd Munch gains a figure on the shore « Ascardurand. This time, he depicts friend the writer Jappe Nilssen consume by melancholy following a falled love affair. Melancholy, imbues every aspect the centre from the brooding figure to the mournful colours and draws out brushstrokes.

The only bright spot is the woman in whine - perhaps the souce of Nilssen's suffering - conversing with a man on the jetty in the distance. This work is the most fully realised of several versions of Melancholy painted between 1091 and 1096, It epitomises the new style of painting Munch developed to convey heightened emations, He included it in the series of woks exploring human experence that he called The Frieze of life'

HOUSE IN MOONLIGHT

1893-95

Oil paint on canvas

Edvard Munch was captivated by the evocative, eerie atmosphere of Nordic summer nights that he experienced in the coastal town of Asgärdstrand. Removed from the clarity of daylight, Munch's nocturnal scenes are charged with clandestine possibility. This work was likely inspired by Munch's memories of his affair with a married woman, Millie Thaulow. Here, a partially obscured female figure stands at her gate as the shadow of a man in a hat falls before her. Munch captures the sense of secrecy and anticipation of this rendezvous.

MORNING

1884

Oil paint on canvas

This painting of a young woman - probably a domestic servant - captures an intimate moment as she pauses from dressing. Her blouse is not fully buttoned and her bare foot is exposed. In rendering the subtle effects of morning light filtering through the window, Edvard Munch was inspired by the new French Impressionist style, using loose brushstrokes and shimmering colours. Painted when Munch was just twenty years old, Morning was one of the first major works he exhibited. It marked him out as a rising star of modern painting in Norway but also drew harsh criticism. Whilst some admired the painting's modern sensibility, others found its technique rough and its subject matter distasteful.

INGER IN SUNSHINE

1888

Oil paint on unprimed cardboard

In the summer of 1888, Edvard Munch and his sister Inger visited the small coastal town of Asgardstrand on the Oslo Fjord, where he painted this portrait of her. Squinting under her wide-brimmed hat, Inger is bathed in dazzling sunlight. Munch's swift brushwork conveys a sense of freshness and immediacy - we can imagine him painting outdoors, freed from the confines of the studio. This is an early example of Munch's work in Asgardstrand. He returned to the town regularly over many summers, using it as the setting for some of his most important works.

MARIE HELENE HOLMBOE

1898

Oil paint on canvas

Edvard Munch painted over 200 portraits during his career. His approach was marked by a sense of close rapport with his sitters. He sought to capture their immediacy and presence, as with this work representing Marie Helene, the wife of Munch's childhood friend Halvard Stub Holmboe. Marie Helene's casual pose as she leans slightly forward as if in conversation denotes a certain comfort between artist and sitter. Munch's loose brushwork, sketchy in places, heightens the sense of informality.

WOMAN IN THREE STAGES

1894

Oil paint on canvas

This monumental painting was part of Edvard Munch's series exploring human experience, 'The Frieze of Life'. It demonstrates his embrace of Symbolism, an artistic movement that sought to reflect profound ideas through symbolic or evocative forms and colours rather than by closely depicting nature. 

Here, Munch arranges three imagined women on a shoreline at twilight, representing a progression from youth to maturity and old age. Munch uses colour to convey different qualities: the pure white of fragile innocence on the left, the red hair and fleshy pinks of seductive, sexual maturity, and the pale skin and deathly black of old age. Munch's anxiety-ridden vision of womanhood is further reflected in the mournful man to the right, standing close to a strange flower that appears to bleed

NUDE IN PROFILE TOWARDS THE RIGHT

1898

Oil paint on canvas

This work was probably painted in preparation for Metabolism (1898-99, Munch Museum, Oslo, which depicts the biblical figures Adam and Eve. In this study, Edvard Munch cast Eve as fiery and seductive by accentuating the red of her hair and creating dramatic highlights on her flesh. In contrast to the final painting, however, she covers her breasts and looks down. Perhaps Munch was exploring the moment in the biblical story when, after disobeying God and being driven from the Garden of Eden, Eve becomes conscious of her nakedness and feels shame for the first time.

MAN AND WOMAN

1898

Oil paint on canvas

The relationship between men and women was a major theme in Edvard Munch's work. He was particularly interested in examining the destructive potential of romantic relationships - what he described as the struggle between man and woman that is called love. In this raw, sketch-like painting, Munch stages a seemingly tense interaction between two naked figures. The subject may relate to his interest in the biblical story of Adam and Eve. However, the work's lack of dertail leaves its narrative opendo interpretation. Munch's treatment of the figures' flesh is immediate, as if painted from life, whereas the indeterminate setting makes the scene appear timeless.

AT THE DEATHBED

1895

Oil paint and tempera on unprimed canvas

"Disease, insanity and death were the black angels that stood by my cradle', Edvard Munch wrote of his childhood. He lost both his mother and sister Sophie to tuberculosis when he was young and was himself beset by ill health. He often channeled these experiences into his art, as with this work depicting Sophie on her deathbed, an event that haunted him throughout his life. The figure of Sophie, just fifteen when she died, disappears within the white sheets. She is contrasted with the heavy shadow of grief formed by family members gathered at her side. The work formed part of Munch's series "The Frieze of Life".

EVENING ON KARL JOHAN

1892

Oil paint on canvas

Edvard Munch places us on Oslo's main boulevard in the path of a press of oncoming figures. Their ghostly faces and the eerie evening light heighten the work's unsettling atmosphere. Munch's writings suggest that this painting was inspired by a memory of searching the avenue Karl Johan for a woman with whom he was infatuated and of becoming emotionally overwhelmed in the crowds. This was the first time Munch depicted such skeletal figures staring out of the canvas. He used the device again in his famous work The Scream, which he exhibited alongside this painting as part of his series "The Frieze of Life'.

FOUR STAGES OF LIFE

1902

Oil paint on canvas

Edvard Munch often depicted the stages of life, as people matured from youth to old age. Although he sometimes presented the subject in a dream-like or timeless setting, as in the large painting Woman in Three Stages (displayed nearby), here, he unfolds the allegory on an ordinary street. Four female figures embody childhood, youth, maturity and old age. Munch presents this life cycle as hard-bitten, with the fresh innocence of the young girl giving way to the melancholic and increasingly deathly appearance of the older women.

CHILDREN PLAYING IN THE STREET IN ÄSGÄRDSTRAND

1901-03

Oil paint on canvas

Street scenes were a recurring feature in Edvard Munch's work. As with this painting, he often explored the private feelings of a figure placed in a very public setting. The young girl stares out of the picture intently, perhaps determined to separate herself from the boys behind her. She may also want to confront us as we enter the scene as viewers. She seems older and less playful than the other children in the street. Munch depicts her at a point of transition between childhood and adolescence - the different stages of life were also a favoured theme for the artist.

YOUTH

1908

Oil paint on canvas

From 1907, Edvard Munch rented a house in Warnemünde, on the northern coast of Germany. Located on the Baltic Sea, it was, for Munch, the German version of Asgardstrand, the Norwegian seaside town where he spent many summers. Youth is one of the ambitious works depicting male bathers Munch produced in Warnemünde and was likely painted on the beach itself. Its lively brushwork and bright palette mark a new direction in Munch's art. The young man epitomizes Munch's recent interest in the German Vitalist movement, which promoted physical wellbeing and a close relationship with nature. Munch seems to have wrongly dated the painting when he borrowed it back from Rasmus Meyer in 1909 to make a copy of it.

BATHING BOYS

1904-05

Oil paint on canvas

Male bathers by the sea was a recurring subject in Edvard Munch's art during the 1900s. The painter was particularly interested in exploring the vitality of the human body and the rejuvenating power of the sun. Here, Munch depicts a group of boys sunbathing on the rocks in the fishing town of Asgärdstrand, where he spent many summers. His friend Christian Gierloff described their carefree days: 'No one is bothered about swimming costumes here, the gentle gusts of a warm July wind are the only fabric between us and the sun.' Munch's loose handling of paint, with drips and a watery transparency, is at one with his subject matter. He likely painted the picture on the shore itself

SELF-PORTRAIT IN THE CLINIC

1909

Oil paint on canvas

In the autumn of 1908, Munch suffered a nervous breakdown. He was treated for eight months at the clinic of Dr Jacobson in Copenhagen, where he was weaned off alcohol and tobacco, and helped to calm his volatile mental state. Partway through his stay, Munch turned his room at the clinic into a studio, where he produced this major self- portrait. Painting played an important role in his recovery. In this work, brushstroke by brushstroke, Munch seems to piece himself back together. With its bold colours and clearly delineated strokes of paint, this self-portrait was an artistic and personal breakthrough that marked a new era for the painter.