“Munch’s style is thrilling because it is so economical. Nothing is overdone. Every stroke of the brush aims right to the heart of the matter, even as it carefully measures every size, space, color and tone. As he paints a feeling instead of a scene, his work anticipates the following sixty years of modern painting and print-making.” ( Chris Miller- NewCity Art- website, Review: Becoming Edvard Munch/Art Institute of Chicago)
“In these paintings Munch struggled to render his own emotional and psychological traumas, including the deaths of his mother and older sister, as well as his doomed first real love affair, into universal images that resonated with the outside world. By so doing, he said, he hoped to ‘understand the meaning of life’ and to help others gain similar insights.” (NYTimes.com Art Review | Edvard Munch, “Munch Was More Than a Scream,”By GRACE GLUECK website Published: February 17, 2006)
I saw this last print, The Kiss, recently in the drawings and prints collection at the Minneapolis Institute of the Arts. I think it captures the “economy” of mark making that the first quote was describing. I kind of wish I could do the same myself, but it’s hard to not go overboard with carving in printmaking and drawing. The first two prints I saw in the Edvard Munch exhibition in Chicago. I enjoy his varied prints and experimentation. In my opinion, I think they surpass majority of his painted work.
-Megan
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