Galloping Horse 1915

Edvard Munch made this print, Galloping Horse, with etching and drypoint. It is full of scratchy, nervous lines, like he’s trying to capture something fleeting. I imagine Munch bent over the plate, his hand moving in rapid, urgent strokes. He’s building up this image of a horse, not with smooth, clean lines, but with this wild energy. The horse itself looks like it’s bursting out of the frame, a real sense of movement. There are figures around it, but they’re kind of lost in the flurry of lines. That main gesture, the horse’s powerful stride, communicates a feeling of untamed vitality, which he explored a lot. Munch, like other painters, seemed to always be trying to get at something primal. Ultimately, this print is just one moment in that ongoing conversation, a testament to how artists keep pushing and pulling at the world, trying to make sense of it all through marks and gestures.