Evening Talk

Munch’s lifelong obsession with loneliness and psychologically twisted love relationship began with this large picture. This was the first time that he truly played out the theme that more than anything else infused his depictions of human beings “breathing and feeling, suffering and loving,” to use the artist’s own words. The painting is an early example of Munch’s break with naturalism. In several places the paint has been applied with brisk, transparent brushstrokes that set the colour free from the objects they are used to depict, giving them independent painterly value. This is supplemented by the artist’s bold move of employing a pronounced vertical division of the picture plane. The contrast between the open, sunlit landscape and the dark veranda is used in a Symbolist way to communicate the dense atmosphere. This one is for You Merete - a great friend of DailyArt.