Children in the Street 1910 - 1915

Edvard Munch made "Children in the Street" with confident brushstrokes and a colour palette of whites, blues, greens, and reds. I imagine him outside, trying to capture a fleeting moment, quickly mixing colours, and building up a sense of the street scene. I really sympathize with Munch here, with his bold, loose strokes that somehow cohere into figures and forms. He knew that the most exciting thing about painting is that the image is always on the verge of dissolving. The thick daubs of colour, the way the white underpainting peeks through – it’s like he’s daring the painting to fall apart. The red around the child's waist is so vibrant, almost like a warning signal in the midst of the more muted tones. The conversation between the artist and the canvas, between observation and abstraction, is laid bare for us to see. It’s a reminder that painting isn’t about capturing reality perfectly, but about finding new ways to experience it.