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Munch Edvard 1863 - 1944 (81)

Sickness, insanity and death were the angels that surrounded my cradle and they have followed me throughout my life.


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Edvard Munch (12 December 1863 – 23 January 1944) was a Norwegian expressionist painter and printmaker whose intensely evocative treatment of psychological themes built upon some of the main tenets of late 19th-century Symbolism and greatly influenced German Expressionism in the early 20th century. He lived a tumultuous life, which was represented in his paintings. As a child, he was often ill and kept out of school. To pass the time, he spent his days drawing. His mother died of tuberculosis after the birth of his youngest sister, and his favorite sister died of the same illness nine years later. His father was a religious fanatic, who would read Edvard and his sisters ghost stories and the stories of Edgar Allen Poe. The young Munch was plagued by nightmares and paranoid visions of death, which he would later incorporate into his artwork.

As his fame and wealth grew, his emotional state remained as insecure as ever. He briefly considered marriage, but could not commit himself. A breakdown in 1908 forced him to give up heavy drinking, and he was cheered by his increasing acceptance by the people of Kristiania and exposure in the city’s museums. His later years were spent working in peace and privacy. Although his works were banned in Nazi Germany, most of them survived World War II, ensuring him a secure legacy.