Mennesker og sol c. 1915

Edvard Munch made this watercolor, Mennesker og sol, with thin washes of color and a free hand. It feels immediate, like a sketch, yet complete. I imagine Munch outside, maybe by the sea, trying to capture the light and the figures moving about him. He’s using the paper as a ground to quickly mark an impression. There’s no attempt to fill in the forms with color, but rather to suggest them with a line here, a wash there. It’s like he's trying to pin down the fleeting moment, but also let the painting breathe. Look at the way he’s used blue and green to suggest the figures, almost like a shorthand. And those sunbeams of yellow, cutting across the composition – they bring such energy to the scene. The painting reminds me how every artist is in conversation with each other, trying to push painting in new directions. It's this messy, beautiful struggle to express something that can't be put into words.