Edvard Munch : 1863-1944 - Imagens de vida e de morte

Meesterlijk Modern #5

by Ulrich Bischoff

For Edvard Munch (1863-1944), painting was an act of self-liberation. His treatments of fear, desperation, and death still exert a powerful visual and psychological effect on modern viewers. Of all Munch's paintings, The Scream (1893), representing a figure tortured by horror, is the most well-known-and certainly one of the most expressive.

The artist reflected his innermost feelings in his work: In reality, my art is a free confession, an attempt to clarify to myself my own relation to life... Although Edvard Munch cannot be clearly identified with any single movement, he is deemed a pioneer of Expressionism.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Biography, Art History, History, Collections, Art Design

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

Reviews

[Manny]

- Which one do you prefer, The Scream or Puberty?

- Oh, I think they're munch of a munchness.

[Osore Misanthrope · Rating 5 out of 5]

“…I sensed an endless scream passing through Nature.”
“What ruins modern art is the vast markets, and the demand that pictures look good on the wall… they are not painted for their own sake… not with any intention to tell a story. Seven years ago I travelled to Paris, consumed by a burning desire to see the salon – I thought I would be in seventh heaven, but all I felt was repugnance…”
“… I go out walking in the moonlight – where the old statues stand, overgrown with moss – I by now am familiar with every one of them and I am frightened by my own shadow… When I have lit the lamp I suddenly see my own enormous shadow covering half of the wall and reaching to the ceiling – And in the big mirror over the stove I see myself – my own ghostly face – And I lead my life in the company of the dead – my mother, my sister, my grandfather and my father – with him above all – All my memories, the smallest of details, return to me…”
“That pause when the world stops in its course / All the beauty of the globe is in your face / Your lips crimson as the fruit that is to come part as if in pain / The smile of a corpse Now Life joins hands with Death / The chain is connected linking the thousand generations / of the dead to the thousand generations yet to be born.”
“… Oppressiveness and anxiety are brooding over my inner being, sensing an earthquake to come.”

Крик природе први пут сам угледао у уџбенику за ликовно са 15 или 16 година; не могу да оживим тачан осећај, али памтим да ме је слика свог прожела, као што и данас чини нестварни сплет боја сутона који, услед незгодних спацијалних намештења на равници, ретко опажам. Осим што је ултимативни екоарт, Kрик је у дослуху са пост-хуманизмом и егзистенцијализмом; наглашава безродност природе и крах бића, а предсказао ми је и тинитус који ћу добити једне проклете бадње вечери 2013, у трослуху злобници-петарде-blast beats… Да, блек метал (Deafheaven, Sadness, Trhä, None итд.) се израђа и из Мункових потреса, што је препознала и њихова колевка Норвешка, те је финансирала 1349 да сниме песму по Мунковој слици по избору, а резултат је Dødskamp (за разлику од српске клерикалне власти, Норвешка је финансирала и снимање албума Instinctus Bestialis од Gorgoroth, са вокалом Atterignera aka Стефана Тодоровића; подсетимо да су музиканти ове струје 90-их дизали цркве у пламен).

Књига се изненађујуће брзо чита; иако су ми слике познате, позитивно дискриминишем по инерцији све од Крика.
Ако морамо да радимо ствари које пркосе нашем бићу како бисмо осигурали егзистенцију, онда овенчајмо сва магновења вољеним уметнинама, јер живот је кратак да би се буљило у којекакве улувричене Лиз(гуз)е (израђујем новогодишње резолуције по повољним ценама).

[Satyajeet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Munch moved away from Naturalism, the scientific recording of the natural world, even moving away from Impressionism. He digged his own psyche and record subjective experience, and that is how you get something as terrifying as ‘The Scream’ This is how dark subjectivity warps the natural world.

He wrote this later about ‘The Scream.’

"I was walking along the road with two friends - the sun was setting - suddenly the sky turned bloody red - I paused, feeling exhausted, and leaned on the fence - there was blood an tongues of fire above the blue-black fjord and the city - my friends walked on, and I stood there trembling with anxiety - and I sensed an infinite scream passing through nature."

If you read letters, diary, or memoir of a sufferer of depression (Vincent Van Gogh, Franz Kafka) you’ll find similar moments of disturbing transformation. The tragic relationship between madness & creativity is undeniable. Some ran from that fact, others refused to look away.

[Bernie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read this book twice and will always come back to it. It is a standard art book about the artist Edvard Munch and tells about his life and work. The illustrations are of good quality and show how his work progressed throughout his life. It is slightly heavy and I would have liked to know a bit more about the artist as a person. I found it a bit impersonal and cold and feel I need to buy another book to find out more about the man, how he felt , his love(s) and what made him tick.

[Talie · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I painted the lines and colours that affected my inner eye. I painted from memory without adding anything. Without the details I no longer saw in front of me.
This is the reason for simplicity of the paintings, their obvious emptiness. I paint the impressions of my childhood, the dull colours of forgotten days. "

بسیاری از نقاشی‌های مونک را باید سکانس‌هایی از یک تم دید. رویایش یافتن خانه‌ای برای نقاشی‌های
"فریز‌های زندگی" بود. نقاشی‌هایی که عشق، مرگ، ترس از زندگی و سکچوالیته را در سکانس‌هایی بیان می‌کردند.
مونک در کمپوزیسیون‌های حساب‌شده‌اش عمودی و افقی را به تعادل می‌رساند و با مورب به عمق می‌رفت.
کیفیت اسکچی کارش تمسخر منتقدین را بر‌ می‌انگیخت. 

آلمان جایی بود که او را به رسمیت شناخت و
مجموعه‌داران خصوصی و موزه‌ها کارش را خریدند.

[Bruno Rodrigues · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was given to me many years ago and spent them on the shelf without ever receiving attention. Until now. What a waste it was to have stayed so long without being properly appreciated because it is a wonderful book.

It is the biography of Edvard Munch, a painter of fantastic works such as The Scream, Vampire, The Day After, or Ashes. In fact, few more works of this painter I knew before reading this book. In terms of biography, it is a bit superficial, as expected from a book with less than 100 pages. However, the real value of the book does not lie there.

The book presents various (almost 80) works of the painter, including lithographs and paintings, allowing us to get to know his work a little better, which is indeed very rich and of spectacular beauty. Almost all the works are accompanied by the personal context in which they were created, as well as their intended purpose (exhibition, collection, etc.), offering us a surprising understanding of them.

Some of the works are also accompanied by technical explanations, such as the use of brushstrokes or colors to highlight certain aspects or feelings of the works. Not being a painter myself, I appreciated these explanations as they drew my attention to aspects that would be impossible for me to notice without that help. And these aspects make the paintings even more beautiful.

In summary, it is a wonderful book that would be worth knowing just for its figures. However, the appreciation of the beauty of the figures accompanied by its reading manages to make the figures even more beautiful, turning the book itself into a true work of art.

[Nathalia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Munch moved away from Naturalism, the scientific recording of the natural world, even moving away from Impressionism. He digged his own psyche and record subjective experience, and that is how you get something as terrifying as ‘The Scream’ This is how dark subjectivity warps the natural world.

[Rebecca Gertz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short and sweet discription of Munch's life and paintings that offers some helpful interpretations and insights into the world of Munch - a world between heaven and hell / life and death.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good starter guide to the works of Edvard Munch.

[Rick · Rating 5 out of 5]

self-portrait with cigarette 🐐🐐🐐

[Jonathan Paul-Faina · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ONLY reason why this book gets a 4-star rating from me is because the paintings photographed weren’t as sloppy as I’ve seen in other Taschen books, and there were quite a few more paintings displayed than I’d have expected from this publisher — which is a MUST when it comes to art books!

In any case, as with any Taschen Art book, I would recommend getting this book if you want to have a brief and general overview over Munch’s life and work.

If you want to continue reading this review, just know that I will NOT be talking about this marvelous Norwegian artist and his remarkable life oeuvre; needless to say, if he interests you, or his work intrigues you, you should ABSOLUTELY read this book!

Compared to other Taschen books, “Munch” definitely aligns more with their price range; you get significantly more images than in other art books that I’ve read from this publisher. Albeit, I’m assuming that this book was translated to English from German (the author is Ulrich Bischoff), because there is no explanation for the overly complicated sentences that make up the book. Of course, I’m no art critique expert, and my vocabulary on this subject isn’t the best, but books from Taschen are marketed to be simple, accessible to anyone. That being said, had it not been for the surprising amount of paintings included, this book would’ve gotten a definite 3-star rating (although that might be generous).

If you have the possibility and know how to read German, that’s how you should read it.

Either way, I don’t regret reading this book: it covers the entire lifework of an art giant in detail, in an accessible format. I’m still not too happy about the price, though...

[elderfoil...the whatever champion · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm either neurotic or just dedicated, probably both. I get home from a long trip and what do I do but reread this short book on Munch and watch Peter Watkin's docudrama on the man. There is nothing in the book's written analysis of Munch that is groundbreaking or exceptionally insightful, but at the same time it is fairly informative in its brief 96 pages, doesn't try to bite off more Munch than it can chew, and doesn't spew forth idiotic theories on his art. Of course there are also lots of wonderful illustrations on this special fellow who took us on a whole new run-----guess he's considered famous, but I still consider him under-appreciated.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

The dissection of the pieces presented was interesting for the most part, but it's mostly made me curious to read more about Munch's life to get further perspective on the moodiness of his work. The artwork is gloriously rendered in this collection. I've had this book for years and never read the text, so I wasn't sure what to expect from this or any Taschen book in general--I own several and have never read the text of those either. I needed a quick read and I'm glad I chose it.

[Devynne_M · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this type of art book because it made it easy to read and understand the history of the artist.

[Patrick Sherriff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I knew next to nothing about Munch but thanks to this book, now I know enough to get a little of where he was coming from. His major works were nicely presented and the three brief essays were enough to outline the themes and reception that his art garnered in his life. My only criticism is there were too few glimpses into his personal life and how that might have impacted his art. But, this collection is worth having if nothing else for looking at his art, which changed as the times around him changed so radically from turn of the century angst to the rise of the totalitarians.

Download my starter library for free here - http://eepurl.com/bFkt0X - and receive my monthly newsletter with book recommendations galore for the Japanophile/crime fiction/English teacher in all of us.

[Victor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, aber kommt nicht an den Caravaggio Band heran

[Aabha Sharma · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a short overview of munch’s works. It’s less than a hundred pages. The size of the pages themselves is not too big as to be cumbersome but large enough to be able to appreciate the artwork. Almost all the paintings mentioned in the text are present in the book so anyone can enjoy this, regardless of their knowledge of art and artists. Great little introduction. I would buy more of these introduction to art series.

By the way I adore Munch and absolutely enjoy his style. So that probably nudged this review to five stars.

[Jess the Shelf-Declared Bibliophile · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't like this art book as much as the others. The writer jumped around chronologically, and then would describe the circumstances behind a certain picture, but the picture had been randomly placed in another part of the book! Also the writer tended to have a negative tone toward the writer. It's okay to talk about someone's known issues, but do it respectfully. Lastly, the writer often criticized many works or styles the author pursued, which was petty and unnecessary.

[Manuela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kurz. prägnant, informativ. Kurzum sehr gutes Preis-Leistungsverhältnis.

[Bookish Miranda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brief overview that discusses Munch's life and artworks. This book has beautiful photos that showcase his work.

[Alejandra rf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Algún día iré a Aasgaardstrand, mientras tanto me conformo con leer sobre Munch.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pleasurable read I finished in an afternoon about a painter whose melancholic, surreal, dynamic paintings I have always found fascinating. Now I know a large part of that mood was due to how constant death was for him with mother dying young then his sister, then his father, & his contraction of several serious illnesses. It doesn't go deeply into any theories or try to psycho-analyse the man or his paintings. It's a great primer for someone like me who isn't familiar with the world of art, and just really likes appreciating it.

I loved the pictured paintings & the short descriptions provided & in fact I wish I could see/read more of his diary entries because he actually writes so poetically too. His own descriptions of his paintings were the best..

‎“I was out walking with two Friends –the sun began to set- suddenly the sky turned blood-‎red –I paused, feeling exhausted, and there I still stood, trembling with fear –and I sensed an ‎endless scream passing through Nature.” – Edvard Munch on The Scream

“All the tenderness in the world is in your face –Moonlight passes across it- Your lips crimson ‎as the fruit that is to come part as if in pain. The smile of a corpse. Your face is full of the ‎beauty and the pain in the world, because Death and Life are joining hands and the chain that ‎links the thousands of generations of the dead with the thousands of generations yet to be ‎born is connected.” – Edvard Munch on Madonna

[Henri Cloete · Rating 3 out of 5]

We picked up this book in an art gallery in Bergen, Norway, several years ago and I finally got to reading it recently. First off, I need to admit that I know next to nothing about art, and we mostly brought this book to learn a bit more about our adopted home country's most famous artist. The book does a good job at giving an introduction to Munch's art, as well as some information about his life and career. The inclusion of copies of several of his most important works is extremely valuable, and I feel like even I would be able to spot some characteristics of his work if we ever visit a gallery containing his work again. However, considering the introductory nature of the book, I felt that some of the discussions regarding his work were a bit short and often relied too heavily on existing art knowledge in the reader, which the typical reader of this kind of book might not have. Additionally, I would personally have preferred if the book, in addition to the discussion of his work, gave a more coherent account of his life, career and influences, instead of just dropping bit and pieces every now and then.
Overall, it was still an interesting read (3.5/5), and while I would not rate this very highly, I am still happy to have some more knowledge about this fascinating artist and his work.

[Chloe · Rating 5 out of 5]

he has some very powerful work!

The comments on juxtaposition of vertical and horizontal tie in to a conclusive and lasting end to the book. I never found much meaning in portraits but his way of expression and conveying his experience are shown to be very influential, quite often sinister. Consecutively repeating - almost obsessively - his paintings (in once case over fifty times) gives a refreshing take on the idea of perfectionism, whilst highlighting how time changes things like ideas, memories and people. I think I have learnt something from this book! :)

some quotes i like

“art is finished once the artist has truly said everything that was in his heart”

“i don’t paint what i see, but what i saw”

[Malcolm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another excellent entry in Taschen's introductory series. The book functions as a biography of Munch's work organized by the styles he worked through. This does mean that the narrative does retreat a lot of ground, but it also means that like works are grouped together for easy comparison.

The included essay is fantastic at shedding light on Munch's body of work specifically how he kept returning to juxtapositions of youth and old age, alive and dead. How at times it seems to dwell on existential dread and at other celebrate life.

There are dozens of Munch's paintings reproduced here, many in full-page spreads, as well as non-Munch paintings included for reference, comparison, and contrast. it's a well put together and breezy introduction to a classical artist.

[Prabhat Gusain · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Edvard Munch's last painting, Self Portrait By the Window, the polarity of Life and Death has produced a lot of striking power. The strong red of the face and background, with the weighty blue-green of his clothing, establishes a solid zone of Life which is emphatically counterpointed with the realm of Death visible outside the window, where ice and snow hold nature tight in a frozen grip. The vertical structure of the picture reminds us of the contrast between standing and lying. Life represents a temporary victory over the force of gravity and over matter: We stand, upright, but one day we must lie down, to die. Life is an image of victory. And this late painting reconciles Life and Death, the vertical and the horizontal, movement and stasis.

[Jihanna Noelani · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book of Munch’s pieces and works is absolutely fascinating. i couldn’t put it down, I was flipping and flipping and flipping through the pages admiring the art, and before I knew it I was done! i never really knew of the artist very well or of his works, but thanks to this book, I do now, and Edvard has to be one of the most talented artists everyone should know, his artistic style was very unique and interesting; and I really love that it had little paragraphs demonstrating things, facts about the art or his life in that same time he made the drawing and what it was based on. I recommend.

[Cesare Molin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Si salva per la selezione di lavori meno ovvi che spesso vengono ignorati anche da cataloghi più corposi.
Un buon numero di immagini hanno però una qualità fotografica non sempre all'altezza degli standard Taschen.
va bene come volume complementare, un po' limitato come Munch "di base".
Come spesso nei classici Taschen i testi sono un tantinello lunghi e qui mi danno l'impressione di parlare tanto e dire molto meno.
Ma è pure una sensazione che ho avuto su altri volumi su Munch, forse è l'artista ad essere più sfuggente come soggetto.

[Piet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heldere uitleg van de schilderijen zonder de gezwollen taal die je bijvoorbeeld bij Gilles Neret vindt.
Typisch voor Munch zijn de hoofden van zijn personages die niet scherp in beeld komen. Het verlies van moeder op jonge leeftijd en zus die op 15jarige leeftijd overlijdt komen steeds terug in zijn werk. Ook een jong meisje op de voorgrond- misschien een idealisering van zijn overleden zus- komt vaak terug in zijn werken.

[Sheetal · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all, I have a question. As admirers of painting and painters, why do people tend to associate with the art which seems incomplete or broken or not very clear? The enlightenment is highly welcome.

Latter, the book is nice and I liked the philosophical part of it more than the artistic one.