Øystein Ustvedt – författare

An authoritative new publication that revisits Munch’s work in its entirety. Edvard Munch occupies a pivotal place in artistic modernity. His work is permeated by a singular vision of the world, with a powerful symbolist dimension that goes beyond the masterpieces he created in the 1890s, and which gives his art a great coherence. For Munch, humanity and nature were united in the cycle of life, death and rebirth, which is reflected in the unending recurrence of certain motifs and colour combinations in his work. He wrote: ‘These paintings, which are, admittedly, relatively difficult to understand, will be […] easier to grasp if they are integrated into a whole.’ Published to accompany the major exhibition at the Musée d’Orsay, Edvard Munch: A Poem of Life, Love and Death presents about a hundred works – paintings, drawings, prints and engraved blocks – reflecting the diversity of Munch’s practice. Seven essays explore the artist in his philosophical and scientific milieu and the places that shaped the man and his art, as well as offering a rare glimpse of Munch’s attempts at creative writing. They also examine the historical evolution of his monumental Frieze of Life series and the world-famous Scream. This publication invites readers to revisit the painter’s work in its entirety by following the thread of an ever-inventive pictorial thinking: a vision that is both fundamentally coherent, even obsessive, and at the same time constantly renewed.

‘My art is a self-confession – in it I seek to clarify my relationship with the world. But at the same time I have always thought and felt that my art could also clarify other people’s quest for the truth’ Edvard MunchWhy do people travel from across the world to see Edvard Munch’s artworks? Munch painted emotions in a way that nobody had ever seen before, depicting love, friendship and the darker sides of life.This book gives readers the opportunity to become better acquainted with Edvard Munch and his oeuvre. It takes a close look at the artworks and explores the stories behind some of the most famous paintings in the world, such as Madonna and The Scream.

The Sick Child, painted in 1885-86, is one of the most well-known, frequently discussed and highly analysed single works in Edvard Munch's oeuvre. The painting was shown for the first time in 1886 at the third National Art Exhibition, also known as the Annual Autumn Exhibition, under the title Study. The exhibition took place at the National Gallery, and later the work acquired a central position within the museum's collection. Øystein Ustvedt's essay in the catalogue provides a thorough introduction to the picture and its history, highlighting its creation, the motif, its reception, its provenance and later versions. Trond E. Aslakby's article is based on comprehensive technical examinations of the National Museum's version of the painting, focusing on technique and treatment.Text in English and Norwegian.

Erik Werenskiold is regarded as one of the "golden age" painters of Norwegian art. He was active as an artist for many decades and addressed the political, social and ideological upheavals of his time. The exhibition was designed to provide insight into Werenskiold's important contribution as an artist, and to examine different aspects of his production. His artistic practice ranges from the historicising figure painting of the 1870s through the painterly naturalism of the 1880s to the atmospheric works of the 1890s and on to the decorative surfaces of the turn of the century, and the catalogue articles address all of these periods. Later in his career he was influenced by the art of Paul Cézanne, the new objectivity of the 1920s and the socially critical art of the 1930s. Both paintings and drawings are examined.Text in English and Norwegian.