Saturday 26 May 2012

a day with Edvard Munch

On tuesday morning I finally made my way to Frankfurt to see the extremely popular exhibition "Edvard Munch. Der moderne Blick" .


It was really worth it (especially as I only paid half of the normal entry price through a Groupon voucher I got a while ago) though very very crowded. Many school groups blocking entire corners, not great. I might like kids, sometimes, but certainly no groups.
Another negative point: you can't take any normal sized handbag in and get asked to put the in a locker.
Ok fine, but: why do you get told that AFTER walking up to the 2. floor and not while you are still downstairs? And you could ask the visitors a bit more friendly...spoilt by the London museums which don't mind Primark bags the size of a house and are normally quite friendly and helpful. Anyway...

The actual exhibition. Edvard Munch is the Norwegian painter that most people will only know by the famous "Scream" painting. This wasn't on display, no version of it at all (and he certainly likes several versions of the same topic). What unites nearly all paintings are the extremely powerful and lively colours. Colourwise they would make a cheerful addition to most living rooms...and then you look at the titles and have a closer look. Deathbed, murderer, fight, crying woman, vampires, etc.


You see that he suffered all his life from a variety of serious problems (e.g. bi-polar disorder). But maybe that is part of what makes the art so powerful. They transfer a strong and often unpleasant meaning - but still look "good" so the viewer doesn't get scared of but drawn in even deeper.
An amazing artist - you don't do him justice by only looking at "Scream", I have bought a book about him and wanna find out more now that the paintings have inspired me! Hardly ever seen a better use of colours...

PS: The exhibition is still on until the 28.5. so hurry up!

1 comment:

  1. I really like the pictures, but sadly there's no possibility to go to the exhibition...

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