Head of a Girl (Madchenkopf) 1902

This etching by Edvard Munch uses a spare palette of blacks, whites, and grays to create a sense of something fleeting. I’m imagining Munch in his studio, maybe in Berlin, hunched over the plate, his brow furrowed in concentration. What was he thinking as he scratched those lines into the metal? Did he know this “Madchenkopf” would echo through art history? What does the head of a girl mean? The lines themselves are restless, hatching this way and that, as if he’s trying to capture something just beyond his grasp. Look at how the lines around her eyes are dark and intense, conveying a depth of emotion, while other areas are barely suggested. It feels intimate, like a stolen glance. You could almost feel the weight of the etching needle in your own hand. Munch, like all of us, was part of a conversation happening across time. He knew the work of artists who came before him, just as he paved the way for future artists with his anguished, searching, and uncertain lines.