Self-Portrait
- Artist: Edvard Munch
- Creation date: (1886)
- Object type: Painting
About
In the course of his long life, Munch painted a number of self-portraits. We can follow him through many of life’s vicissitudes, from a young and decadent artist to an elderly, sick man staring death in the face. (See p. 75.) These pictures afford us intimate insights into the artist’s life.
It is the arrogant and self-assured Bohemian we meet in this selfportrait from 1886. The artist was 22 years old at the time and at an early stage in his career. But despite his youthfulness, he was already being noticed among artistic circles in his home country.
The portrait shows us the radical ways in which Munch’s painting was developing in these years. Here he has used surface scratching, and the face seems enveloped in haze. This was a technique he also used in his most famous painting of the 1880s, The Sick Child from 1885–86. Later he would change his painting style in favour of a more flowing brushstroke.
The portrait was purchased by the National Gallery in 1938 with funds provided by Olaf Schou. Formerly it was owned by the lawyer Harald Nørregaard, who was married to the painter Aase Nørregaard, a close friend of Munch.
Text: Marit Ingeborg Lange
Artist/producer
Edvard Munch
Visual artist, Painter, Graphic artist, Photographer, Drawing artist
Born 12.12.1863 in Løten, Hedmark, death 23.01.1944 in Oslo
Edvard Munch worked as an artist for over sixty years. He was creative, ambitious and hardworking. He produced nearly two thousand paintings, hundreds of graphic motifs and thousands of drawings. In addition, he wrote poems, prose and diaries. The Scream, Madonna, Death in the Sickroom and the other symbolist works from the 1890s have made him one of the most famous artists of our time.
"Don't become an artist!"
Edvard wanted to become an artist early on, and there was no doubt that he had talent. But his father refused to allow him to follow his dream, so Edvard began studying engineering. But already after one year he chose to defy his father, and switched from engineering college to the Norwegian National Academy of Craft and Art Industry in Kristiania, now Oslo.
A talented and provocative bohemian
It was obvious to everyone in the Norwegian art community that the young man showed rare talent. In 1883, at the age of 20, he debuted at Høstutstillingen (The Autumn Exhibition). In 1886, Munch became acquainted with author and anarchist Hans Jæger, a leading figure in the Kristiania bohemian community. The bohemian community convinced Munch that the arts had to renew themselves to reach people and to have relevance in their lives. In the same year he exhibited the painting The Sick Child. This generated debate!
Courage led to breakthrough
Some acclaimed The Sick Child a work of genius, while others deemed it unfinished and unworthy of exhibition. Today it is considered to mark Munch's breakthrough. It was here that demonstrated the independence and willingness to break fresh ground.
From this point until his final brush strokes, his artistic practice can be summed up in just word: experimentation. Munch did not care about established "rules" for so-called good art. His techniques in both painting and graphics were innovative.
From people's emotional life to agriculture and landscape
Henrik Ibsen's plays about humanity's existential challenges inspired Munch. Themes such as death, love, sexuality, jealousy and anxiety were central to his early images. Some themes sprang from personal experience. For example, Death in the Sickroom and The Sick Child are linked to his memory of his mother and sister's illnesses and early deaths.
After 1910, Munch chose a quieter and secluded life. At his own farms at Ekely in Oslo and in Hvitsten, he found entirely new motifs, such as agriculture, working life and landscapes. Man in the Cabbage Field is a typical example from this period.
Work info
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