The curator is indebted to and has quoted from the following scholarly sources: Buchhart, Dieter, et. al., Edvard Munch: Signs of Modern Art, (exhibition catalogue), Fondation Beyeler, Basel, 2007; Chang, Alison W., Negotiating Modernity: Edvard Munch’s Late Figural Work, 1900-1925, unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, The University of Pennsylvania, 2010; Eggum, Arne, Munch and Photography. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1987; Frizot, Michel, “L’âme, au fond: L’activité photographique de Munch et Stringberg,” in Lumière du monde, Lumière du ciel, Visions du Nord, (exhibition catalogue), Musee d'Art moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1998; Holt, Cecilia Tyri, Edvard Munch Fotografier, Forlaget Press, 2013; Kermabon, Jacques, et. al., Pathé: Premier empire du cinéma (exhibition catalogue), Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, 1994; Lampe, Angela and Clément Chéroux, et. al., Edvard Munch: The Modern Eye, (exhibition catalogue), Tate, London, 2007; Woll, Gerd, Edvard Munch: Complete Graphic Works, Oslo: Orfeus Publishing AS, 2012.
Image credits:
David, Jacques Louis (1748-1825): Marat assassiné, 1793. Brussels, Musees Royaux des Beaux-Arts. Oil on canvas, 65 x 50 1/2' (165 x 128.3 cm) © 2020. Photo Scala, Florence; Edvard Munch, Starry Night: 1893, oil on canvas, 35.9 × 140.3 cm (53 1/2 × 55 1/4 in.), J. Paul Getty Museum, Digital image courtesy of the Getty's Open Content Program; Edvard Munch: Aften på Karl Johan, 1890, oil on canvas, 84,5 × 121 cm, KODE, Rasmus Meyers samlinger. Foto: KODE/Dag Fosse; Edvard Munch: Det syke barn, 1885-1886, oil on canvas, 120 x 118,5 cm, Nasjonalmuseet for kunst, arkitektur og design, Billedkunstsamlingene Foto: Nasjonalmuseet/Børre Høstland; Edvard Munch: Hus i måneskinn, 1893-95,oil on canvas, 70 × 95,8 cm, 100 × 110 cm, KODE, Rasmus Meyers samlinger. Foto: KODE/Dag Fosse; Edvard Munch: Melankoli, probably 1892, oil on canvas, 64 x 96 cm, Nasjonalmuseet for kunst, arkitektur og design, Billedkunstsamlingene, Foto: Nasjonalmuseet/Børre Høstland; Edvard Munch: Måneskinn, 1893, oil on canvas, 140,5 x 137 cm, Nasjonalmuseet for kunst, arkitektur og design, Billedkunstsamlingene, Foto: Nasjonalmuseet/Børre Høstland; Edvard Munch: Natt i Saint-Cloud, 1890, oil on canvas, 64,5 x 54 cm, Nasjonalmuseet for kunst, arkitektur og design, Billedkunstsamlingene, Foto: Nasjonalmuseet/Børre Høstland; Edvard Munch: Selvportrett fra klinikken, 1909, oil on canvas, KODE, Rasmus Meyers samlinger. Foto: KODE/Dag Fosse; J.L. Nerlien, 1896, katalog, Munchs Hus (Åsgårdstrand). Foto: Wolday, Mekonnen/Munchs Hus; Steichen, Edward (1879-1973): Moonrise - Mamaroneck, New York (1904). New York, Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Platinum, cyanotype, and ferroprussiate print, 15 1/4 x 19' (38.7 x 48.2 cm). Gift of the photographer. Acc. no.: 364.1964.© 2020. Digital image, The Museum of Modern Art, New York/Scala, Florence; Unknown photographer: Untitled, 1918. Gelatin silver print, 3 7/8 × 2 5/16" (9.9 × 5.9 cm). Gift of Jeffrey Fraenkel. Acc. no.: 670.2007. New York, Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). © 2020. Digital image, The Museum of Modern Art, New York/Scala, Florence; Vobecky, Frantisek (1902-1991): Untitled (Self-Portrait), 1935. Gelatin silver print, 9 5/16 × 6 3/4" (23.6 × 17.2 cm). Thomas Walther Collection. Gift of Thomas Walther. Acc. no.: 1896.2001. New York, Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). © 2020. Digital image, The Museum of Modern Art, New York/Scala, Florence.
A Record of Healing A Record of Healing
Munch often photographed in times and places where he struggled with his health and sought new energy. The pictures from the town of Warnemünde on Germany’s Baltic Coast show him as part of male body culture and include images of the artist naked and semi-naked on the beach. Munch also took tourist shots with his female models on the sand during the summers he spent there in 1907 and 1908.
In autumn 1908, Munch checked into a private clinic in Copenhagen managed by the physician Daniel Jacobson and his nurses. Munch was broken down by exhaustion, distress and alcoholism. The clinic became his home for over half a year. Within its walls, he painted, drew, created graphic motifs, organized exhibitions and took photographs in which he consistently appears semi-transparent. In the pictures of Munch’s room at the clinic we often get a glimpse of his paintings and prints. Sometimes he seems to have staged his body in postures that echo these paintings.