Edvard Munch

This is the 19th post in our Artist of the Week series.



Edvard Munch was born in 1863 in Norway. As a young child Edvard was often ill and was therefore kept inside out of the cold. He would occupy his long hours by drawing. Munch's love of drawing grew but he still attempted to attend college to become an engineer. Instead he was fascinated by learning how to draw scale and perspective, and when illness kept him missing school again, he simply dropped out in order to become a painter.

Edvard eventually enrolled in the school of Art and Design but found that his impressionist ways did little to impress the critics and it caused him to come under fire from his father when he failed to make a living with his art. His painting style began to evolve as he found that impressionism did not quite do what he wished and he began to combine a multitude of styles from natualism, to impressionism to post-impressionism.

In 1892 he was invited to do a show in Berlin but Edvard's painting caused societal indignation and was referred to as "The Munch Affair." The show was closed after merely a week.

Edvard's most famous painting The Scream was painted in 1893 and Edvard relates that it was result of his trying and succeeding to paint his own soul.

Edvard continued to exhibit his paintings where they still receive much criticism among few bouts of praise. But it seemed that infinitely slowly the world was coming to accept that Edvard was not the traditional painter but that he was painting something that was entirely different and much deeper.

When he started to loose his sanity it was suggested that he go out and spend time with good friends and refrain from drinking. It was upon following this advice that his art took on a much more optimistic style and attracted more patrons. Edvard was finally making enough money to care for himself and his family (brothers and sisters) by 1908.

During the second war many of Munch's paintings were removed from German museums by the Nazi's who even though they were founded by Germans and painted in Germany, they were not good enough to be considered German. Many of these paintings were saved by Norway collectors who purchased them from the Nazi's (including The Scream) but 11 paintings were never seen again.

Edvard died in 1944.

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