Edvard Munch

Edvard Munch (1863–1944) was a Norwegian painter and a major representative of Symbolism. He grew up in Kristiania, now Oslo, as the son of a deeply religious military doctor and lost his mother at the age of five. After brief technical training, he began studying art. His stays in Paris led him away from realism and toward an individual Symbolist style. In 1892, his first exhibition in Berlin caused a scandal and was closed early. With the “Frieze of Life,” shown at the Berlin Secession in 1902, Munch gained numerous collectors and patrons in Germany. He later received public commissions and became known as a portraitist as well. He died in Ekely near Oslo on January 23, 1944.