Edvard Munch : Theme and Variation

Loneliness, jealousy, love, death. Hardly any other artist has explored the basic experiences of human life and personal angst more forcefully and with such unsettling images as the Norwegian painter and graphic artist Edvard Munch.

His depiction of the crisis of the individual makes him a representative of modern consciousness, and the form he uses to express this inner drama makes him a precursor and founder of Expressionism.

Munch's entire creative period is characterised by a continuous return to his central motifs.

This exhibition catalogue contains essays by authors in the field and provides an analysis of the emergence, development and inner fabric of theme and variation in Munch's oeuvre.

Differening versions and renditions of paintings like "The Scream", "Melancholy" and "Jealousy" - all icons of Modernism - are presented side by side.

In addition, the volume shows the close relationship between the artist's graphic and painterly works, for Munch's interest in a motif was not only restrained to painting.

He also transformed his themes into printed media such as lithographs, etchings and woodcuts, all documented in this publication.