THE FAMILY / Edvard Munch

 

EDVARD MUNCH was born December 12, 1863 at Engel-haugen Farm in Loten, Norway. In 1881 he entered the School of Design, studying freehand drawing and modeling. In 1892, Munch exhibited paintings in Berlin that caused such violent outcry that the exhibit closed after only a week. During this time, Munch also began work on his famous series of paintings, “The Frieze of Life,” a thematic series he described thusly: “The Frieze is conceived as a series of decorative pictures which will collectively present a picture of life. They are traversed by the curved shoreline; beyond lies the ever-moving sea, and under the tree-tops is life in all its fullness, its variety, its joys and its sufferings.” The most famous canvas from the “Frieze” series is “The Scream” (1893). With swirling textures and bold colors, the painting captures a moment of anxiety and terror.