I have recently payed and queued twice to see this exhibition at the Centre Pompidou and can honestly say it has left a lasting impact upon me. In a similar way to Dubuffet, my only real previous knowledge of Munch was of iconic 'The Scream' image which must be world famous. I remember being shown this image during GCSE art and finding it exceptionally unsettling. There was something torturous and painful about the figure within the painting that made me flinch and feel uncomfortable. The ghoulish face with its vast eye sockets and skeletal like features was enough to give any impressionable young person nightmares. So that was that. Without further ado I confined Munch (without even regarding any of his other work) to the 'artists to be forgotten and never looked at again' section of my brain.
With this in mind, I headed to the exhibition with much trepidation. I think it was curiosity more than anything as the image used on the posters advertising the exhibition was a serene landscape with vibrant, welcoming, slightly Van Gogh influenced colours and not at all reminiscent of the harrowing Scream.
The exhibition was fascinating in that it turned all my preconceptions of the artist on their head. Many people share the opinion that Munch was a solitary, tormented artist, only preoccupied with his own interior world and I suppose the iconic Scream doesn't particularly do much to suggest the contrary of this. However, this exhibition sought to show Munch in a different light- as a contemporary 19th/20th century artist embracing Modernity in all its forms. Munch was an avid traveller, loved cinema, radio and literature and engaged in new forms of representation such as photography which particularly aroused his curiosity.
The first painting to welcome you at the entrance to the exhibition is Le Baiser (The Kiss)-
With its fluid contours and warming colours evoking an amorous ambience, there is nothing remotely disturbing about this painting.
I get the feeling that Munch's works ooze with emotion and are highly influenced by the events he experiences through his life, such as the death of his sister in 1877 which he chose as a subject to paint many times.
It is true that the subjects he choses to paint are sometimes rather bizare and morbid- operations, murders, fights and fires but I do not believe he is intentionally taking an optimistic reflection of the world.
I was struck by the intensity of colour used in many of his paintings. The choice of colour seemed so important and vital to the message being conveyed.
The Sun 1910-1913
I have chosen to use one of his paintings- Neige fraîche sur l'avenue, 1906 (Fresh snow in the avenue) as the basis for the colour palette for my knitting project as I found the choice of colour very profound.
Munch is undeniable a gifted painter, however I cannot help but empathize with him as an individual as by viewing his paintings I am struck by the impression that he was tormented by his emotions. His loneliness comes through in his portrayal of lonesome figures in the foreground with happy couples looming behind and it is true that his depression ultimately led him to be hospitalized.
For me, his paintings are equally as interesting from a psychological point of view as well as an aesthetic one. This is especially relevant to his self portrait of which there are many as he gained a bit of a self-portrait obsession. One completed at the end of his stay at a clinic to aid his depression is interesting. Munch has painted his facial features with great detail and precision in complete contrast to the rest of the painting which is composed of short, disconnected brush strokes. It is believed that he did this intentionally in the hope to reconstruct at the same time his healthy, wholesome identity. Another of his self-portraits captures significantly ominous omens- the presence of a bed close to him to suggest a death close at hand and a large clock with no hands to echo the idea that time has slipped away forever.
Learning more about Munch as an individual and seeing over 140 of the Norwegian artist's paintings, photographs, engravings, drawings and sculptures has certainly given me a new found appreciation for the artist. It has taught me the importance of studying the work of an artist over their lifetime in order to contextualize each of their paintings.
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