The upcoming exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in London, titled Edvard Munch Portraits, focuses on the Norwegian Expressionist’s portraiture rather than his more famous works like The Scream. Curated by Alison Smith, the show explores Munch's family connections and social circles across various cities, emphasizing the complexities of his personal life, including loss and artistic growth. The exhibition showcases how Munch's portraits reflect both his intimate relationships and broader artistic influences, delving into themes of identity and societal masks.
There are few lonelier pictures than Edvard Munch's The Scream (1893), with its protagonist wailing beneath a fire-orange sky, or Melancholy (1891), depicting a man sat mournfully by a shoreline.
The family pictures speak to a challenging period for Munch, who lost his mother and elder sister to tuberculosis before he started to paint in earnest, but also one of intense artistic progress.
You can see he's been looking at French artists, and he suggests the influence of Japanese art by squeezing Laura to the side, her vacant gaze out of the picture, meanwhile, anticipates Melancholy.
A key exhibition theme will be Munch's ability to, in his own words, see 'behind everyone's mask'.
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