Tag Archives: Expressionism

Edvard Munch’s Psychological Themes Influenced German Expressionism

Edvard MunchYesterday I posted on my other website information about The Scream by Edvard Munch. If you missed it click here

As I researched his painting, I learned more about Munch that I’d like to share with you. Born in 12 December 1863, he became a Norwegian painter and print-maker.  He was among the expressionist artists who expressed emotions in what they created.

Munch’s “intensely evocative treatment of psychological themes” had a large influence on the movement, especially German Expressionism. Considered an “avant-garde movement in poetry and painting”, the trend “peaked in popularity in 1920s Berlin”.

Munch’s The Scream, is one of the best known images in the world. “It is one of the pieces in a series titled The Frieze of Life. In the series Munch explored the themes of life, love, fear, death and melancholy. With The Scream, Munch met his stated goal of “the study of the soul, that is to say the study of my own self”.

Munch was ill very often. Many scientists think that he suffered from manic depression.”My condition was verging on madness—it was touch and go.” Subject to hallucinations and feelings of persecution, he entered the clinic of Dr. Daniel Jacobson. The therapy Munch received for the next eight months included diet and “electrification” (a treatment then fashionable for nervous conditions, not to be confused with electroconvulsive therapy).

Munch’s stay in hospital stabilized his personality, and after returning to Norway in 1909, his work became more colorful and less pessimistic. Further brightening his mood, the general public of Christiania finally warmed to his work, and museums began to purchase his paintings. His first American exhibit was in 1912 in New York.[76]”

He died at his house in Oslo, Norway, January 23, 1944 at the age of 80.

Quoted information from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edvard_Munch

Munch's The Sick Child

Munch’s The Sick Child

 

 

Munch's Girl on the Beach

Munch’s Girl on the Beach

Munch's Lonely

Munch’s Lonely

Munch's The Dance of Life

Munch’s The Dance of Life

 

Munch Museum

Munch Museum

Munch's Gentlewomen

Munch’s Gentlewomen

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