Edvard Munch

Norwegian painter

The Norwegian painter Edvard Munch (1863-1944) was born in Loten on 12 December 1863. The artist received his education in Oslo.

Paris

Munch traveled to Paris in 1885. In this city he met Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, Paul Gauguin and Vincent van Gogh. He took a several-month-long course on nude painting with Léon Bonnat.

Munch in Italy and Germany

In 1891 Edvard Munch traveled to Italy. A year later an important exhibition was held at the Vereinigung Berliner Künstler (Association of Berlin Artists) in Germany.

Lithography and etching

Edvard Munch began to experiment with lithography and etching. He became internationally known. In 1897 he exhibited "Frieze of Life" at the Salon des Indépendants in Paris.

Mural paintings

Edvard Munch traveled a lot through Germany, France and Italy. He returned to Norway in 1909, where he began to work on the mural paintings for auditorium of the University of Oslo. In the 1920's he made mural paintings of the Freia Factory in Oslo.

The Scream

His best known work "The Scream" was painted in 1893. The painting shows a view of Oslo's skyline at sunset and a figure that's raising its hands and screams.

Personal grief and obsessions

The paintings and graphical works of Munch were often based on personal grief and obsessions and were very important for the development of expressionism.
Edvard Munch died in Oslo on 23 January 1944.

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