Munch

Edvard Munch (1863-1944) is the only Scandinavian painter of modern times to have achieved a world reputation. A tragic childhood - his mother died when he was five and a sister when he was thirteen - wounded him deeply, and much of his early work expresses this in its agonized pessimism. In the first half of his career he lived much of his life in Germany, and became one of the fathers of modern German art. After 1900, however, and particularly after his return to Norway in 1909 following a severe nervous breakdown, his subjects tended to become more extrovert and objective, while his palette assumed increasingly brighter colours. The period 1910-20 was a particularly prolific one, in which he painted mural decorations for Oslo University and many other outdoor subjects, but Munch continued working throughout his life and produced some remarkable sefl-portraits shortly before his death. This introduction to the art of Munch includes forty-eight full-page colour plates, of work from all stages of his career, from the naturalism of the early work, through the symbolic psychological dramas of the 1980s to the brilliant colours of the later works. John Boulton Smith's authoritative essay on Munch has here been revised and updated. The plates are complemented by notes written by art historian James Malpas, discussing each painting in detail, and there is a wealth of black-and-white comparative illustrations.

Edvard Munch (1863-1944) is the only Scandinavian painter of modern times to have achieved a world reputation. A tragic childhood - his mother died when he was five and a sister when he was thirteen - wounded him deeply, and much of his early work expresses this in its agonized pessimism. In the first half of his career he lived much of his life in Germany, and became one of the fathers of modern German art. After 1900, however, and particularly after his return to Norway in 1909 following a severe nervous breakdown, his subjects tended to become more extrovert and objective, while his palette assumed increasingly brighter colours. The period 1910-20 was a particularly prolific one, in which he painted mural decorations for Oslo University and many other outdoor subjects, but Munch continued working throughout his life and produced some remarkable sefl-portraits shortly before his death. This introduction to the art of Munch includes forty-eight full-page colour plates, of work from all stages of his career, from the naturalism of the early work, through the symbolic psychological dramas of the 1980s to the brilliant colours of the later works. John Boulton Smith's authoritative essay on Munch has here been revised and updated. The plates are complemented by notes written by art historian James Malpas, discussing each painting in detail, and there is a wealth of black-and-white comparative illustrations.

An extraordinary and inventive graphic biography, Steffen Kverneland’s Munch explores the relationships and obsessions that drove the artist behind ‘The Scream’. Using text drawn from the writings of Edvard Munch and his contemporaries, this extensively researched and beautifully drawn graphic novel debunks the familiar myth of the half-mad expressionist painter – anguished, starving and ill-treated – to reveal the artist’s neglected sense of humour and optimism. Born out of a life-long fascination with all things Munch, Kverneland’s award-winning seven-year project is the funniest and most entertaining portrait yet of a complex man and a pioneering artist. “Munch is a dazzling use of sequential storytelling… Rarely have I read a more entertaining biography.” The Comics Journal

An extraordinary and inventive graphic biography, Steffen Kverneland’s Munch explores the relationships and obsessions that drove the artist behind ‘The Scream’. Using text drawn from the writings of Edvard Munch and his contemporaries, this extensively researched and beautifully drawn graphic novel debunks the familiar myth of the half-mad expressionist painter – anguished, starving and ill-treated – to reveal the artist’s neglected sense of humour and optimism. Born out of a life-long fascination with all things Munch, Kverneland’s award-winning seven-year project is the funniest and most entertaining portrait yet of a complex man and a pioneering artist. “Munch is a dazzling use of sequential storytelling… Rarely have I read a more entertaining biography.” The Comics Journal

Edvard Munch (1863-1944) var norsk maler og grafiker (1863-1944), der især er kendt for værket Skriget. Han var en af ekspressionismens hovedskikkelser inden for den europæiske malerkunst mod slutningen af 1800-tallet, og allerede omkring århundredeskiftet havde han opnået international berømmelse. Han startede sine kunststudier i Oslo, bl.a. hos Christian Krohg i første halvdel af 1880'erne, og fattede interesse for impressionismen efter sit første besøg i Paris i 1885. Efter hjemkomsten fra et andet besøg i den franske hovedstad, hvor postimpressionisterne rykkede ind i hans interessefelt og fik betydning for udviklingen af hans symbolladede udtryk, malede Munch sine første egentlige ekspressionistiske billeder. Alvorlig sygdom hos Munch og tabet af moderen og søsteren påvirkede hans syn på livet i en meget pessismistisk retning, hvilket kom til udtryk i hans værker. Munch overvandt imidlertid krisen, og de tidligere kompositioner af angst og uro veg tilbage for mere harmoniske kompositioner, hvor farveholdningen blev lysere og akvarelagtig. Steffen Kverneland (1963-) er norsk tegneserieskaber og illustrator bl.a. kendt for sine træffende karikaturer og tegneserieversioner af litterære værker. I 1993 udkom Kvernelands debutalbum Jonas Fjeld: De knyttede never. Albummet vandt Norsk tegneserieforums årlige pris for bedste norske tegneserie. Samtidig lavede han fra 1993 til 2001 Amputerte klassikere, der er en uhøjtidelig og satirisk leg i tegnserieform med kendte literære værker. I 2004 udgav han sammen med Lars Fiske en prisbelønnet tegneseriebiografi om den norske mestertegner Olaf Gulbransson med titlen Olaf G. Deres samarbejde fortsatte i tegneserieværket Kanon, der indtil videre er udkommet i fem bind. Kvernelands bidrag har hovedsageligt været den føljeton om Edvard Munch, der er samlet i nærværende udgivelse. Munch vandt vandt Brageprisen (Norges vigtigste litteraturpris) i kategorien sagprosa (non-fiction) i 2013, udsendt i seks oplag på norsk og oversat til syv sprog.