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Edvard Munch 1863–1944
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Edvard Munch was one of Modernism's most significant artists. His tenacious experimentation within painting, graphic art, drawing, sculpture, photo and film has given him a unique position in Norwegian as well as international art history.
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He was active throughout more than sixty years; from the time he made his debut in the 1880s, right up to his death in 1944. Munch was part of the Symbolist movement in the 1890s and a pioneer of Expressionist art from the beginning of the 1900s onward.

Edvard Munch is born on 12 December 1863. As a child, he is sick and close to death more than once. Having to stay in bed for whole winters, he is unable to attend school and is taught at home instead. But his poor health also gives him the freedom to pursue his passion – drawing. 17 years old he writes in his diary:

“It is my decision now to become a painter.”

Timeline of Munch's life

Visit the places that inspired Munch

Experience the light and landscapes that inspired him, visit the places that were essential to his artistic life.

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Digital resources

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You can also search Edvard Munch's artworks

>Search Munch's texts

We have also made available a digital archive for Edvard Munch's texts and correspondence.

>Photos of the collection

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Edvard Munch: Summer Night. The Voice. A woman in a light coloured dress stands alone in a dark, bluish forest surrounded by long, slender tree trunks. Her head is slightly raised and she holds her arms together behind her back. In the lighter background can be seen a beach and several rowing boats at sea. The moon’s elongated reflection in the water is like a yellow exclamation mark.
Edvard Munch: Evening. Melancholy. Oil, pencil and color pen on canvas, 1891. Photo © Munchmuseet
Edvard Munch: Head by Head. Oil on canvas, 1905. Photo © Munchmuseet
A man buries his head in a woman’s lap. She embraces him, placing her mouth on the back of his neck. Her blood-red hair is draped around the man’s body. The room around them is dark.
A naked woman shown from the hips up stands or lies against a meandering background. She has one arm raised behind her head and the other resting behind her hips. Her eyes are closed and her face is framed by long, black hair. Behind her head she has a red circle that could be a hat or a halo.
Edvard Munch: Jealousy. Oil on canvas, 1913. Photo © Munchmuseet
A dark painting of a girl. She is naked and sitting on a bed, her arms crossed over her thighs. Her shadow falls menacingly on the wall behind her. Her facial expression is difficult to interpret.
Edvard Munch: The Death of Marat (1907). Oil on canvas, 153 × 149 cm. © Munchmuseet
Edvard Munch: The Hands. Oil and crayon on unbound cardboard, 1893–94. Photo © Munchmuseet
A sinuous, ghostly figure with empty eyes and an open mouth holds his hands over his ears. He stands facing us on a road with flamelike, billowing clouds in the background. Behind him, two men stroll away into the landscape.
A sinuous, ghostly figure with empty eyes and an open mouth holds his hands over his ears. He stands facing us on a road with flamelike, billowing clouds in the background. Behind him, two men stroll away into the landscape.
Edvard Munch: The Scream. Lithograph, 1895. Foto © Munchmuseet
A magnificent painting of a sunrise over a fjord landscape. The sun’s rays flood towards you. The sky vibrates and sends blue-green waves across the fjord.
A magnificent painting of a sunrise over a fjord landscape. The sun’s rays flood towards you. The sky vibrates and sends blue-green waves across the fjord.
A magnificent painting of a sunrise over a fjord landscape. The sun’s rays flood towards you. The sky vibrates and sends blue-green waves across the fjord.
Edvard Munch: Starry Night. Oil on canvas, 1922-1924. Photo © Munchmuseet
Edvard Munch, Two Girls with Blue Aprons. Oil on canvas, 1904-05. Photo © Munchmuseet
An elegantly dressed woman sits at a table set for a celebratory meal. Around her are several men in dark suits with partially blurred facial expressions. The men closest to the woman lean towards her, and one of them appears to be holding her hand. The woman stares straight ahead with an unfathomable gaze.
Edvard Munch: The Dance of Life, 1925. We see people dancing on a grassy meadow in the moonlight, with a beach, the sea, and a moon reflecting on the water in the background. In the centre of the painting, a couple dances closely—a man in a dark suit and a woman in a red dress. To the left of the couple, a woman in a white dress stands alone. To the right, another woman stands alone, dressed in a black dress. Painting.
Edvard Munch: Death in the Sickroom. Pastel on canvas, 1893. Photo © Munchmuseet
Edvard Munch: Death in the Sickroom. Lithograph, 1896. Photo © Munchmuseet
Edvard Munch, The Sick Child I. Lithograph, 41.4 x 58.8 cm, 1910. Photo: Munchmuseet
Edvard Munch: The Sick Child. Oil on canvas, 1927. A red-haired child lies in bed, propped up by a large pillow. A woman, dressed in black, sits beside her with her head bowed. Painting.
Edvard Munch: Friedrich Nietzsche. Oil and tempera on canvas, 1906. Photo © Munchmuseet
Edvard Munch: Stanislaw Przybyszewski, 1895. We see Stanislaw from the front in a half-length portrait. He looks directly at us with a cigarette in the corner of his mouth. His shoulders are slightly hunched. He is wearing a coat and a white shirt. Painting.
Edvard Munch: The Man in the Cabbage Field, 1943. A man stands with his legs apart in the middle of a cabbage field, holding an armful of cabbages. The field is painted in shades of yellow, white, and green. Painting.
Edvard Munch: Self-Portrait in Front of the House Wall, 1926. Edvard Munch is shown in a half-length portrait standing in front of a yellow house wall with a green plant. He is wearing a brown blazer with something white underneath. His right arm hangs down by his side, while his left is raised to chest height as if about to grasp his lapel. Behind him, the house wall is visible on the right, while a green garden and a blue sky can be seen on the left. Painting.
Edvard Munch, Self-Portrait in Woman's Hair: Salome Paraphrase. Gouache, brush, pencil, 1894-1898. Photo: Munchmuseet.
Edvard Munch: Metabolism. Oil on canvas, 1898–1899. Photo © Munchmuseet
Edvard Munch: Self-Portrait. Between the Clock and the Bed, 1940–43. An old man stands upright with his arms hanging by his sides. To the right of the man, there is a bed; to the left, a grandfather clock. Painting.
Edvard Munch: Summer Night. The Voice. Oil on unprimed canvas, 1896. Photo © Munchmuseet