Edvard munch influences on the constitution

Two potent myths have traditionally defined the work of the artist Edvard Munch: that he was mentally unstable, as his iconic work The Scream () suggests, and that he was influenced by the contemporary art of France and Germany to the exclusion of his native Norway.

Becoming Edvard Munch: Influence, Anxiety, and Myth challenges these entrenched perceptions by presenting Munch’s paintings, prints, and drawings in relation to those of European contemporaries including Harriet Backer, James Ensor, Axeli Gallen-Kallela, Vilhelm Hammershøi, Max Klinger, Christian Krohg, Claude Monet, and Vincent van Gogh.

Like that of Van Gogh, Munch’s work has long been connected to his supposed insanity and tormented emotional state.

His art has also been understood in light of modernism’s partiality toward creative independence and individuality.

Edvard munch influences on the constitution While the artist himself never fully succumbed to his father's religious fervor and teachings, this work clearly suggests Munch's constant wrangling over the exact nature of his own spirituality. Through his paintings, we are able to gain insight into the inner workings of his mind and the emotions that drove his art. The red halo upon the Madonna's head, as opposed to the customary white or golden ring, indicates a ruling passion befitting Baroque-era renditions of the subject, minus any measure of religious discretion. Discover effective strategies for building bridges in challenging terrain such as mountainous and gorge settings.

Somewhat paradoxically, given this emphasis on a distinctive vision, Munch’s oeuvre has been interpreted as reflecting French and German influences more strongly than Scandinavian ones.

This publication, however, reconsiders Munch’s career in light of his personal diaries and letters, as well as the writings of contemporary critics, presenting a picture of the artist that is at odds with stereotypes.

Jay A. Clarke demonstrates that Munch was very much in control of his professional life, a savvy businessman keenly aware of how to manipulate both the art market and popular opinion. Moreover, Clarke shows, he built his art on specifically Norwegian pictorial traditions.

Becoming Edvard Munch features rich color reproductions of approximately works, including 75 paintings and 75 works on paper by Munch and his peers.

While taking a chronological focus, it also pursues a set of themes- the street and crowd; anxiety and solitude; love and sexuality; nature, bathing, and the neo-Romantic landscape; and death and dying-that reveal the connections between Munch’s art and that of his peers in often surprising ways.

Jay A. Clarke

pages, 9 x 12 in.

color and 48 b/w ills.

Out of print

ISBN: (hardcover)