Edvard Munch

1863-1944

Munch continues to create murals for various Norwegian institutions and factories, and later begins work on one for Oslo's City Hall, a task which he ultimately abandons. It is a quiet life for Munch, but his work continues to generate controversy wherever it is found. In 1937, the Nazis denounce his work as "entartete kunst", meaning "degenerate art", and his paintings are removed from the walls of German galleries. Three years later, Munch decides to will his entire personal collection to the city of Oslo, perhaps in some eerie foreshadowing of his approaching death. The same collection that is currently being shown at the Munch Museet

On the 23rd of January 1944, Munch dies in his sleep at the age of 81.

Edvard Munch was a visionary artist whose work was the very essence of humanity's dark side. Perhaps that is why it generated such controversy. His frieze of Life captured not only the moments in his soul, but the soul of the moment as well. He was a prolific artist, having creted hundreds of paintings, etchings, woodcuts, and lithographs, and his murals will forever give Oslo its unique character. Munch's tortured life gave us brilliant colors that echoed black, and a mirror to hold up against the face of human suffering. Munch may not be as visible as other European artists such as Salvador Dali or Pablo Picasso, but that is mostly due to the fact that he willed his personal collection to the city of Oslo. Nevertheless, he remains one of the most groundbreaking artists to have risen at the turn of the twentieth century.

"No longer shall I paint interiors with men reading and women knitting. I will paint living people who breathe and feel and suffer and love."
Edvard Munch

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