Old Trees 1925

Curator: We're looking at "Old Trees," an oil on wood piece by Edvard Munch, created around 1925. It's part of a private collection. Editor: It strikes me as both desolate and vibrant. The bare trees against the snowy ground create a somber mood, but the use of such vivid colors—purples, oranges, greens—prevents it from feeling completely bleak. Curator: Indeed, and I think it is necessary to observe how the visible brushstrokes and almost crude application of oil paint across the wood contributes greatly to Munch's renowned expressionistic style. This approach, so prevalent among his circle of artists, speaks volumes about their deliberate choices of medium and application to convey feeling over realistic portrayal. Editor: Precisely! That vibrant impasto adds a real sense of dynamism to an otherwise still scene. Notice how the colors aren't blended but sit side-by-side. What are we to make of that compositionally? Curator: Well, you see, during that period there were challenges associated with acquiring resources given social and economical constraints and often artists worked with what they had at hand and what was most affordable to express sentiments of the day... Editor: And from my view it highlights the internal struggle, that juxtaposition of calm and chaos, perhaps even longing? You see it even in how the foreground is much more defined compared to the distant background with the red cottage barely perceptable in the left side... Curator: Absolutely. I also wonder about the role that industry and consumption had to play at this point as Norway continued to develop as a young independent nation after centuries of control and cultural imperialism... It makes you consider those old trees within a specific economic and political milieu. Editor: A great reminder. The work transcends its immediate aesthetic and opens up to layered, socio-economic and psychological investigations that speak of more than just an artists vision of nature!