Mandril 1908 - 1909

Edvard Munch made this drawing of a mandrill, using confident strokes of graphite, at an unknown date. The mandrill’s stare is intense, the strokes around the face and body are more diffuse. You can almost feel the artist circling around the subject, trying to capture its essence on paper. I wonder what Munch was thinking as he made this drawing. Was he interested in the animal's form, or was he trying to capture something deeper, something about the animal's personality? The marks are kind of smudgy and soft, making the animal seem approachable, even as its gaze is so direct. It’s easy to see a connection between this work and Munch's more famous paintings, like The Scream. Both works share a sense of raw emotion and psychological intensity.