The painting "Madonna" by Munch. Description

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Edward Munch (1863-1944) formulated his credo as a desire to paint living people, breathing, suffering, loving - "people who take off their hats before entering the church." In expressing strong human emotions, the means of classical realism were insufficient for him, he opened up new paths in art, in many ways ahead of his time.

He was looking for new artistic means of painting, he interpreted classical subjects in a new way. A vivid example of these searches was the painting "Madonna". Munch was inspired by a theme that was born a thousand years ago, but the result is a work that is relevant for any time.

Forerunner of Expressionism

In his development as a painter, Munch went through periods of passion for a variety of approaches to reflecting the world around him. He has works created in a classical, realistic manner. He painted landscapes in the style of the Impressionists and was strongly influenced by the French Symbolists. As a result, the master formed his own creative method, which did not allow him to be attributed to a specific trend. The painting of Gauguin and, especially, Van Gogh is considered the closest to the work of the great Norwegian. But on-the only thing they really have in common is the strength of the energy radiated by their works - the originality of the pictorial manner and the peculiarities of the artistic analysis of the world are too obvious.

In this sense, the painting "Madonna" by Munch contains all the signs of the originality of his painting. These include unprecedented frankness in an unexpected interpretation of the classic plot, which was called scandalous, conciseness of the composition and a unique technique for constructing an image. Smooth, viscous lines of the drawing and a viscous background in which details that are insignificant for the realization of the general idea are hidden - in this manner all the most significant things of the master were created, in which it is customary to see signs of the new art of the 20th century.

Is that Madonna?

The controversy about whether the painting "Madonna" by Munch is really an image of the Virgin, the Virgin Mary, flared up immediately after writing the first version of the canvas in 1893. The only indication of the divine origin of the depicted woman is a halo above her head, and of an unusual - red - color. It is known that at first the painting was called by the artist Kvinne som elsker - literally - a woman makes love. The later name, which refers to the classic creations that have been known since the early Middle Ages, to the great works of the Renaissance masters, adds new depth to the original idea.

One of the reasons why the master chose such a plot and how the painting “Madonna” by Munch meets the religious views of the artisthis work is explained by the tragic events of his youth. Born into a family where his father, military doctor Christian Munch, was distinguished by morbid religiosity, Edward at first deeply perceives Christian postulates. But after the death of his beloved older sister Sophia, after he watched the prayerful lamentations of his father, who could not help the dying, he finally became disillusioned with traditional religion. And the Madonna in his picture became only a symbol, and the theme of the canvas was life and love - female and male.

Frieze of Life

In 1903, in one of the halls of the Berlin Secession - an exhibition of artists who denied traditional, academic art - Munch first exhibited the first works from a cycle of paintings, which, in his opinion, was supposed to cover the main periods of life, the main aspects of being person. He called it "The Frieze of Life" and continued to work on it almost all his life.

For the artist, the order of placement of paintings was important, which were hung out according to several sections. "Madonna" - a painting by Munch - was painted by him for the "Frieze" and belonged to the "Birth of Love" section. In addition, there were others: "The Rise and Fall of Love", "Fear of Life" (to which the famous "Scream" (1893) belonged), - and "Death".

The exact composition of the sections has not been preserved and is being restored according to the memoirs of contemporaries, but the fact that the theme of the relationship between a man and a woman was one of the main components of the "Frieze" is also known from the texts of the master.

Moment of love

A total of five versions of the painting were created - lithographic and oilpaints. Each of them is not just a blind repetition, but a gradual development of the theme, adding new nuances and details to the idea. On one of the graphic versions, the artist frames the picture with a symbolic image of a life-giving liquid, placing a small human fetus at the end. The fact that "Madonna" - a painting by Munch depicting a woman in a moment of love, becomes even clearer.

But the depth and volume of truly great paintings does not allow for too simple interpretations. A masterpiece belonging to the highest level - "Madonna", a painting by Munch. A woman is depicted on it - earthly and alive - her body is depicted with such rounded and hot lines, passion is so clear in the eyes and features of her face, the pose seems natural, if we assume that in front of us is a lying, not standing model. Why does the picture exude such drama, why does the embryo, the future fruit of love, look like a dead man? It is too light to explain this with a general gloomy message emanating from the work of an artist who had a broken psyche - the hand of a great master is led by higher powers.

Thinker and prophet

His creations are now seen as omens of the global upheavals of the 20th century. In the last decades of his life, he knew success and recognition, and died in 1944 in his native Norway, in a country captured by the Nazis - connoisseurs of another art - preaching clear and understandable truths, in a language accessible to the most unicellular being.

His paintings set price records at auctions, and incredible stories happen to them: "Madonna" - a painting by Edvard Munch, was stolen from a museum in Oslo in 2004 by two armed robbers, along with one of the options for another masterpiece of the master - "Scream". For a whole year their whereabouts were unknown, although the robbers were found and convicted. There were reports of their final loss. But the canvases returned to the museum, although somewhat damaged.

The main advantage of works like "Madonna" is that they provide an opportunity to find their answers to the most important questions of life, but only to those who pose such questions and to those who are looking for such answers.