Jealousy Motif 1929 - 1930

Editor: Edvard Munch’s “Jealousy Motif,” painted around 1929-1930, feels intensely psychological to me, even a bit unsettling. The figures are vaguely formed, almost like ghosts of people. What do you see in this work, and what cultural or personal ideas might be encoded? Curator: It is unsettling, isn’t it? The green face looming over the other figures carries such weight. Green has historically been associated with envy and sickness, particularly in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Look at how that green bleeds into red, creating almost vein-like lines that connect it to the couple. Do you notice how Munch uses color to express a sort of visual language for unseen connections and perhaps unspoken emotions? Editor: I see that connection, it almost feels like a virus, spreading between them. So the green-faced figure could be read as Jealousy personified? Curator: Exactly! It's fascinating how Munch utilizes this "Jealousy" figure as an omnipresent, almost parasitic force, consuming and distorting the relationships below. This echoes anxieties pervasive in his era about societal structures and interpersonal dynamics collapsing. Think of Ibsen’s plays… Did personal experiences or anxieties fuel this consistent depiction of jealousy in his oeuvre, or do you think he’s drawing upon something bigger, like societal angst? Editor: I suppose both played a role, personal pain and wider anxieties finding form on the canvas. I never thought about how literally the colors embodied jealousy. Curator: That’s the power of symbolism; it allows artists to condense complex feelings and ideas into instantly recognizable forms that resonate across time and culture. What started as an abstract emotion gets an iconographic presence. Editor: Now when I look at the artwork, I think more about that iconographic weight and understand how powerful Munch’s image-making was. It really sticks with you.