Attraction I (1995)

Edvard Munch prints bring the work of Norway's best-known painter into your home. Munch painted what people feel rather than only what they see: love, fear, longing and grief, set against fjords, beaches and summer nights. His art helped shape Symbolism and Expressionism. Our collection of about 200 art prints runs from The Scream and Madonna to quiet coastal landscapes, portraits and sunlit bathing scenes.

About Edvard Munch

Edvard Munch was born on 12 December 1863 in Ådalsbruk, Løten, Norway. Loss came early: his mother died of tuberculosis in 1868, and his favorite sister, Sophie, died of the same illness at 15.

In 1881 he enrolled at the Royal School of Art and Design in Kristiania (now Oslo), where his teachers included the painter Christian Krohg. The painter Frits Thaulow supported him with a stipend. Among the Kristiania bohemians, the nihilist Hans Jæger urged him to paint his own emotional and psychological state, which led to what Munch called "soul painting." In Paris in 1889 he studied under Léon Bonnat and absorbed the color of Gauguin, van Gogh and Toulouse-Lautrec.

Munch spent about four years in Berlin, where he sketched most of the ideas for The Frieze of Life, a cycle of paintings on love, anxiety, jealousy and death first shown in full at the Berlin Secession in 1902. In 1897 he bought a summer house at Åsgårdstrand, which he called the "Happy House."

After a breakdown, he spent about eight months in 1908 at Dr. Daniel Jacobson's clinic in Copenhagen. Back in Norway, his work became more colorful and less pessimistic, and he painted the murals for the University of Oslo's Aula, completed in 1916. He lived his last decades at Ekely, his estate outside Oslo, and died there on 23 January 1944. He left his remaining work to the city of Oslo, and the Munch Museum opened in 1963.

Style and Subjects

Munch's paintings are easy to recognize. Figures stand on the shore, a bridge or a road, often set against the coast or the fjord. Colors are strong and not always natural, like the orange-red sky of The Scream, and shadows and rings of color around figures add a sense of fear, menace or desire. Lines swirl and repeat, and he sometimes let paint drip.

He was also a major printmaker, working in etching, drypoint, aquatint, lithography and woodcut, and he often returned to the same subject in several versions and techniques. Beyond the famous Frieze of Life themes, his work includes portraits of friends and patrons, nudes, bathers, farm workers, and calm landscapes of snow, gardens and the Norwegian coast.

Famous Works

• The Scream (1893), National Museum, Oslo. A figure on a road above the Oslofjord clutches its head under a blood-red sky.
• The Sick Child (1885–86), National Museum, Oslo. Based on his sister's death, Munch considered it his first "soul painting."
• Madonna (1894), Munch Museum, Oslo. A half-length woman with closed eyes and a red halo in place of a golden one, painted with serpentine brushwork.
• Puberty (1894–95), National Museum, Oslo. A young girl sits on the edge of a bed, eyes fixed ahead, while a dark shadow looms behind her.
• Vampire (1892–94), Gothenburg Museum of Art. A woman with flame-red hair embraces a man and kisses his neck; Munch painted six versions.
• The Dance of Life (1899–1900), National Museum, Oslo. It was the final painting in The Frieze of Life, the cycle at the heart of his work.
• The Sun (1911), University of Oslo Aula. Part of his murals for the university's Aula, and pictured on Norway's 1000-krone note from 2001 to 2019.

Decorating with Munch Prints

The best-known Munch prints are strong statements. The Scream, Vampire or Madonna work well as a single focal point in a living room, study or hallway, set on a plain wall where the swirling lines and deep reds and blues have room.

For calmer rooms, look to his landscapes and summer scenes: Åsgårdstrand shorelines, moonlight over the water, gardens, snowy fields and bathers in the sun. Their soft blues, greens and evening light fit bedrooms, reading corners and coastal or Scandinavian-style homes. The Sun and his later, brighter paintings bring warmth to a kitchen or dining room.

FAQ

What art movement was Edvard Munch part of?

Munch is linked with Symbolism and is seen as an early figure of Expressionism. He strongly influenced the German Expressionists.

What is Edvard Munch's most famous painting?

The Scream is his most famous work. The painted version from 1893 is in the National Museum in Oslo, and the Munch Museum holds other versions.

Where can I see Edvard Munch's original paintings?

Oslo is the place to go. The Munch Museum holds the large body of work he left to the city, the National Museum shows The Scream, The Sick Child and The Dance of Life, and his murals hang in the University of Oslo's Aula.

What makes Munch's style recognizable?

Look for strong, unnatural colors, swirling lines, and lonely figures on a shore, bridge or road. His subjects are love, longing, anxiety and death, often painted in several versions.

What is The Frieze of Life?

It is Munch's cycle of paintings about love, anxiety, jealousy and death, including The Scream, Madonna, Vampire and The Dance of Life.

Related Artists

• Christian Krohg — Norwegian painter who taught Munch in Kristiania
• Frits Thaulow — Norwegian painter who supported the young Munch with a stipend
• Paul Gauguin — his color and simplified forms shaped Munch's work in Paris
• Vincent van Gogh — admired by Munch and compared with him for expressive style
• Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec — another Paris painter whose use of color influenced Munch