Vampyr II by Edvard Munch - 1895–1902 - 56.9 x 70.1 cm Museum of Modern Art Vampyr II by Edvard Munch - 1895–1902 - 56.9 x 70.1 cm Museum of Modern Art

Vampyr II

litograph and woodcut • 56.9 x 70.1 cm
  • Edvard Munch - 12 December 1863 - 23 January 1944 Edvard Munch 1895–1902

Edvard Munch created multiple versions of this subject in the period 1893–95. An alternate title is Love and Pain but it was first called Vampire by Munch's friend, the critic Stanisław Przybyszewski. Przybyszewski saw the painting on exhibition and described it as "a man who has become submissive," and on his neck "a biting vampire's face."

Three versions of this painting are at the Munch Museum in Oslo, one is at the Gothenburg Museum of Art, one is owned by a private collector, and the last one is lost. Munch also painted several more versions and derivatives in his later career.

In the lithograph we present today we see a woman with long flame-red hair kissing a man on the neck as the couple embrace. Although others have seen in it "a man locked in a vampire's tortured embrace – her molten-red hair running along his soft bare skin," Munch himself always claimed it showed nothing more than "just a woman kissing a man on the neck."

So, it's up to you what you see. Happy Valentines Day everyone! :) Read about the flying lovers, Bella and Marc Chagall. <3