Hero i
n
focus
To celebrate the 150th anniversary of Norwegian
EdvardMunch
’s birth,
here are seven things you need to know about
The Scream
artist
3
An early move to Paris, where he was
influenced by the work of Gauguin
and van Gogh, ended when Munch’s
father died in November 1889. It triggered
perhaps the first of the artist’s breakdowns;
over the years he was admitted to
sanatoriums in Kornhaug and Copenhagen.
4
Munch had to endure criticism
throughout his career:
The Sick
Child
(1886), based on his favourite sister’s
death, caused a scandal as it was judged
to be “slapdash and unfinished”; an 1892
solo show in Berlin was described as an
“insult to art” and closed after a week.
5
In 1898 he met Tulla Larsen, and a year
later they travelled to the south of
France and Italy, but broke up spectacularly
in September 1902 when Munch shot
himself in the left hand. Larsen was the
inspiration for such paintings as
The Death
of Marat I
and
Still Life (The Murderess)
.
6
Munch’s cycle
The Frieze of Life – A
Poem of Life, Love and Death
was first
shown in Berlin in 1902. He revisited themes
in works including
Madonna
,
Vampire
and
The Scream
, one version of which – from
1895 – became the most expensive painting
sold at auction when it went for nearly
US$120 million (NOK705m) last year.
7
The Nazis confiscated 82 of his
“degenerate” artworks in Germany in
1937 and Munch avoided all contact with
them when Germany invaded Norway in
1940. In 1944 he died at Ekely, where he
had lived for 28 years, and bequeathed his
entire estate of nearly 24,000 works of art
to the city of Oslo.
Anniversary celebrations in Norway continue
until the end of 2013, including major show
Munch 150
(ends 13 October)
munch150.no
Norwegian flies to Oslo from nearly 100
destinations. Book flights at norwegian.com
Edvard
Munch
12 December 1863
23 January 1944
1
Edvard Munch was born in Løten,
Norway, in 1863; his father was an army
doctor who moved the family to Kristiania
(now Oslo) to supplement his income.
Edvard’s mother died of tuberculosis
in 1868 and his aunt took over the five
children’s upbringing.
2
In 1879 the sickly Munch enrolled at
the Kristiania Technical College, in
line with his father’s wishes, but switched
to the Royal College of Art and Sculpture
in 1881, when he produced the first of
his famous self-portraits and fell in with
bohemians like nihilist Hans Jæger.
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