Edvard Munch Portraits - by Edvard Munch & Alison Smith (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Portraits by and of Munch offer insight into the vibrant bohemian world of one of the great artists of the 19th and 20th centuries

Norwegian painter Edvard Munch (1863-1944), whose 1893 work The Scream has become one of Western art's most acclaimed images and who is widely regarded as one of the great artists of the 19th and 20th centuries, is less known for his portraiture--but his portraits are central to his art and vision. Edvard Munch Portraits, edited by Alison Smith, former chief curator at London's National Portrait Gallery, brings together more than 60 of Munch's most significant portraits, showcasing the wide array of styles, techniques and mediums that he employed.
During the course of Munch's long life, and working in a range of mediums that encompassed painting, drawing and print, he made hundreds of portraits of friends, patrons, models and, above all and unsparingly, himself. This book places his work in the cultural and historical background of his period, providing readers with a greater understanding of the time in which these portraits were produced. This publication offers deep insight into the artist's family and bohemian social circles, along with his German and Norwegian patrons and the friends who helped establish his reputation.

Review Quotes

[The] National Portrait Gallery's (NPG) chronological survey of his portraits -- reportedly the first of its kind in Britain -- reveals an astonishingly accomplished and varied range of technical skill, capable of expressing an equally diverse range of psychological characters and moods.--Olivia McEwan "Hyperallergic"

Munch the psychologist of unease appropriating the swagger of Sargent or Velázquez.--Jackie Wullschlager "The Financial Times"

Highlights psychological complexity.--Michael Prodger "The New Statesman"