Three Seated Young Women 1906 - 1907

Edvard Munch made "Three Seated Young Women" with oil on canvas, and I wonder what he was thinking when he made it. The colors are muted, like a memory, mostly off-whites and pale yellows, with a kind of ghostly light bulb hanging above their heads. I imagine him standing in front of the canvas, squinting, trying to capture a feeling more than a likeness. These women are almost like ghosts themselves, their faces smudged and indistinct. See how the brushstrokes are loose and flowing, almost like he’s trying to catch them in motion? There is a lot of space; the backgrounds seem unfinished. It reminds me of some of his other paintings, where he's grappling with big feelings like loneliness and longing. Painters like Munch show us that painting isn't just about making a pretty picture, but about digging into the messy, complicated stuff of being human. And that's a conversation that keeps going, from painter to painter, across time.