New Snow in the Avenue

Ice whites and pale blues evoke the somberness of winter or early spring in New Snow in the Avenue. This time, two figures are set against a curiously morphing, gloopy, lava lamp like skyline and are outnumbered by an avenue of trees. But it is not altogether somber. I feel the optimism coming from the zesty green and yellow shoots of life in the trees and the lukewarm violet provides reason for some optimism. This is a contemplative moment, with an element of calm or focus on what lies ahead in the untouched blanket of snow on the path. Munch creates an illusion of space by using familiar motifs and he crops the figures in the foreground in order to allow the landscape to dominate and compound the feeling of our small, insignificant place in the natural world or our psychological state of isolation.