Death and Life

Edvard Munch was all about symbolism. Here, he depicted a human skeleton and a shapely naked woman in a passionate embrace. The image illustrates the intimate connection between love and death, Eros and Thanatos. Such themes, where life and death are seen as inseparably connected, were of great concern to Munch in the 1890s, and can be recognized in many of his pictures from this period. 

The painting is in a fragile condition and we can see that the surface is damaged. The damage has occurred as a result of the way in which Munch treated the paintings; he experimented and took advantage of the opportunities and effects that cropped up during the creative process. The artist began to experiment with painting techniques relevant to the means of expression he wanted to achieve during his stay in Berlin from 1892 to 1895. The paintings were given matt surfaces consisting of relatively thin layers of color.

P.S. Death is a constantly recurring motif in Munch's life; see the most famous portrayals of death by Munch!

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