James Picard - Artist of the Month, March 2006: Edvard Munch

***March 2006***

Edvard Munch
December 12, 1863 - January 23, 1944

Born on December 12th 1863 in Loten Norway, Edvard Munch grew up the second of five children in the city of Christiania, now known as Oslo. His mother died of tuberculosis in 1868 when he was only five years old and while still young, Edvard watched his brother and favourite sister succumb to the disease as well. He was raised by his mother's sister and his father but tragedy was not far behind and soon Edvard was to lose his aunt as well.

Edvard, who was sickly as well, spent most of his time drawing and soon found himself lost in a world of creativity. In 1879, Munch enrolled in a technical college to study engineering, but frequent illnesses interrupted his studies. In 1880, he left the college to become a painter and in 1881 enrolled at the Royal School of Art and Design of Kristiania. He studied with the naturalistic painter Christian Krohg, and though he showed good technical abilities, his art was full of a certain bleakness and pessimism. He would later say, "Sickness, insanity and death were the angels that surrounded my cradle and they have followed me throughout my life."

In 1885 Munch traveled to Paris and his work began to show the influence of French painters — first of the Impressionists, and then of the Post Impressionists. While stylistically influenced by the Post Impressionists, Munch began using symbolism in his work and began trying to depict a state of mind rather than an external reality. He returned to Norway and became part of the Christiania bohemian scene, painting constantly.

In the autumn of 1889 Munch held a large exhibition in Cristiania, and was soon after awarded a state travel grant for three consecutive years. Naturally, he went to Paris, where for a short time he was a pupil of Léon Bonnat, but he became more inspired by acquainting himself with the city's growing art life. Shortly after Munch arrived in France, he was informed that his father had died. The loneliness and melancholy he felt started to be revealed in his paintings. Around this time Munch did the first sketches of the well-known "The Scream".

In the autumn of 1892 Munch was invited to show the same paintings to the Artist's Association of Berlin. His paintings invoked extreme controversy at the show, and after one week, the exhibition closed. In Berlin, Munch felt a kinship to his fellow artists and soon became involved with a circle of writers and artists and began studying the philosophy of Nietzsche. Between 1892 and 1908, Munch divided his time between Paris and Berlin, where he became known for his etchings, his lithographs, and his woodcuts.

Artistic success was accompanied however by personal conflicts. Alcohol had become a problem, and Munch was emotionally unstable. He was plagued by the memories of a tragic love affair, which had come to a dramatic end with a revolver incident in the autumn of 1902, which permanently injured a finger on Munch's left hand. His alcoholism, anxiety and mental problems reached a critical point, and Munch decided to spend eight months at a clinic in Copenhagen. The therapy Munch received in the hospital changed his personality, and after returning to Norway in 1909, he showed more interest in nature subjects, and his work became more colourful and less pessimistic. His artistic talent, finally becoming recognized, he was awarded the Order of St. Olav during his stay at the clinic.

From 1909 until the rest of his life Munch resided in Norway. At first he settled down in Kragero, a coastal town farther south. Here he threw himself enthusiastically into painting. In 1912, Munch was given a prominent place among pioneers of modern art at the large Sonderbund exhibition in Cologne.

Munch began living in self-chosen isolation, surrounded only by his pictures. He was constantly productive, but parted only reluctantly with "his children". Arrangements were made to lend the pictures to a number of international exhibitions.

In the 1930's and 1940's, the Nazi's labeled his work "degenerate art", and removed it from all German museums. This deeply hurt Munch, who had come to feel Germany was his second homeland. He now became more isolated than ever, rarely seeing anyone and painting and creating continually with a great sense of purpose though most of his work was never seen.

Before Munch died, he willed his large collection of paintings and literary notes to the City of Oslo. He passed away in Ekely, near Oslo on January 23, 1944, a month after his 80th birthday.

"From my rotting body, flowers shall grow and I am in them and that is eternity."

—Edvard Munch

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