The Sun

The burning sun that rises over a Southern Norwegian archipelago is among Edvard Munch's most famous motifs. The grand masterpiece we present today dominates the vast front space of Oslo University's assembly hall, commanding viewers’ attention through its sheer size, unmitigated frontality, and powerful imagery.

Munch evolved the sun's role in this mural from a mere element to an all-encompassing presence. Its radiant rays illuminate the ocean's waters, the bare rocks of a northern landscape, and a slim strip of verdant green separating land and sea. A clean, straight horizon line demarcates the waters from the sky. The immense sun is the source of all life and is all-pervasive, shining from the heavens upon land and sea, its rays reaching out to eternity.

P.S. Edvard Munch was fascinated by the natural light. See his paintings of Norwegian summer nights. 

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