Edvard Munch
Subtitle: between the clock and the bed
By: edited by Gary Garrels, Jon-Ove Steihaug, and Sheena Wagstaff ; preface by Karl Ove Knausgaard ; essays by Patricia G. Berman, Allison Morehead, Richard Shiff, and Mille Stein
Contributors: Garrels, Gary, editor; Steihaug, Jon-Ove, editor; Wagstaff, Sheena, editor; Knausgård, Karl Ove, 1968- writer of preface; Berman, Patricia G., writer of supplementary textual content; Morehead, Allison, writer of supplementary textual content; Shiff, Richard, writer of supplementary textual content; Stein, Mille, writer of supplementary textual content; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.); Munch-museet (Oslo, Norway)
Published: 2017
Language: eng
Number of pages: 152
ISBN-13: 9781588396235
Subjects: Art and mental illness; Themes, motives; Exhibitions
Description: This engaging book offers a fresh look at the exceptional works of Edvard Munch (1863-1944) by examining them in the light of his precarious mental state. Following a nervous breakdown in 1908, Munch underwent electroshock therapy, which prompted a marked change in his art work. The haunting Self-Portrait between the Clock and the Bed, finished one year before his death, represents a culmination of the themes of mortality, isolation, and anxiety that he explored repeatedly, and provides, in these pages, a perfect lens through which to view the artist's entire oeuvre. Informative essays consider Munch's position in the art world, his conception of self as a means of experimentation, and the psychological content of his paintings, while a previously unpublished foreword by the celebrated Norwegian novelist Karl Ove Knausgaard offers a new perspective on Munch's life and work. Featuring over 40 masterworks from throughout the painter's career, and an illustrated chronology that traces the progression of his emotional state and its influence on the images he created, this is an intimate, provocative study of an enigmatic artist and his remarkable legacy.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.

Exhibited: San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (June 24-October 9, 2017; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (November 14, 2017-February 4, 2018); Munch Museum, Oslo (May 12-September 9, 2018).
Table of contents: title: Preface: on Edvard Munch / Karl Ove Knausgaard; title: Introduction / Gary Garrels, Jon-Ove Steihaug, and Sheena Wagstaff; title: The untimely face of Munch / Allison Morehead; title: Patterns in Munch's painting technique / Mille Stein; title: The business of being Edvard Munch / Patricia G. Berman; title: Munch on the periphery / Richard Shiff; title: Plates; title: Chronology / Michèle Wijegoonaratna.