Edvard Munch

Edvard Munch began his art studies in Oslo, Norway and traveled throughout Europe to Germany, Italy, and France. Upon visiting France, Munch was influenced under Gauguin and Van Gogh and felt the pain that both artists endured within their lives. Indeed after understanding both artists, Munch grew as an artist from the effects of studying both Gauguin and Van Gogh. Through the use of Expressionist style, Munch expressed life, love, and death in his collection of art. Although Munch, as an artist admired the extraordinary passion that pervades his inspiration, with the use of swirling lines and bold color shows his suffering under the surface. Munch was enthused by the colors used in the French Post-Impressionist era which he felt allowed his paintings to represent victimized individuals. In addition to composing dramatic pieces, Munch was the man behind the establishment of the German Expressionist movement in the twentieth century. Truthfully, from Munch’s use of symbolism the world was able to understand the controversy of European Culture in this time period and due to his strong statement, Munch is a well know artist in the nineteenth century.

Quotes from Munch

"By painting colors and lines and forms seen in quickened mood I was seeking to make this mood vibrate as a phonograph does. This was the origin of the paintings in The Frieze of Life."

"Disease, insanity, and death were the angels that attended my cradle, and since then have followed me throughout my life."

"I have no fear of photography as long as it cannot be used in heaven and in hell."

"I painted the picture, and in the colors the rhythm of the music quivers. I painted the colors I saw."

"Nature is not only all that is visible to the eye...it also includes the inner pictures of the soul."