Edvard Munch

Munch, Edvard - ĕdˈvärt moongk, 1863–1944, Norwegian painter and graphic artist. He studied in Oslo and under Bonnat in Paris and traveled in Europe. In the 1890s he abandoned impressionism to portray from his profound sense of isolation the themes of death, fear, and anxiety. Munch said he heard "the scream of nature." To describe this, he developed an exciting, violent, and emotionally charged style that is recognized as being of primary importance in the birth of German expressionism. During the 1890s, Munch's most productive period, he made powerful and shocking woodcuts, developing a new technique of direct and forceful cutting that served to revive creative activity in this medium. Among his strongest and best-known works are The Scream (1893), Vampire (1894), and The Kiss (1895). Reaction to his stark, fearsome images caused the closing of an important Berlin exhibition of 1892. In 1909, after a severe mental illness, Munch returned from Germany to Norway, where he painted murals for the Univ. of Oslo and for an Oslo chocolate factory. His painting became brighter of palette and less introverted until the 1920s, when he again was moved to portray his dreadful anguish. Munch's work is in leading collections everywhere.

See Munch: In His Own Words (2001), ed. by P. E. Tojner; biography by O. Benesch (tr. 1960); studies by A. Moen (3 vol., 1956–58), W. Timm (tr. 1969), J. P. Hodin (1972), T. M. Messer (1973), and G. Woll (2001).

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