Two Women by the Veranda Steps 1942

Editor: This is Edvard Munch’s "Two Women by the Veranda Steps," painted in 1942 with oil paints, created 'en plein air'. There's something so arresting about the colors – they feel almost Fauvist. The figures appear slightly ghostly, caught between presence and absence, maybe even sadness? What jumps out at you when you look at this? Curator: Oh, "ghostly" is a perfect word for it, isn't it? I see Munch wrestling with memory itself. The vibrant yet uneasy color palette speaks to me of conflicting emotions—joy overlaid with melancholy. Munch often used impasto to create texture, giving his works a very tangible quality, almost as if he were building the image out of raw emotion. Notice how the women are positioned, one at the veranda, one in the yard, physically close, yet seemingly disconnected. What story do you think Munch is trying to convey? Editor: I hadn't considered that disconnect between them. It's almost like they're living in separate planes of existence, yet bound by this shared space. Could this be about loss, or perhaps regret? Curator: Absolutely! Loss and regret are ever-present themes in Munch's work. He was deeply affected by the deaths of his mother and sister at a young age, and this grief haunted him throughout his life. "Two Women by the Veranda Steps" perhaps explores that sense of being haunted by the past, where memory and reality blur. Perhaps these two women embody past and present. Or even a memory within a memory. You get that, don't you? Editor: I do now! It's like the painting is not just a representation of a scene but also a peek into Munch's emotional landscape. Thank you. Curator: My pleasure! Every time I view a Munch, I'm left considering the multifaceted layers of life and what the expression of raw feelings truly looks and feels like, how deeply beautiful they are. It's like uncovering more fragments of a shattered mirror, each reflecting a different facet of human experience.