Framoverbøyd kvinneakt c. 1920

Edvard Munch made this watercolor of a woman bending over, with a palette of earthy reds, browns, golds, blues and greens. It’s so open and raw – you get the feeling that Munch was trying to capture a fleeting moment, the essence of a figure in motion. I can picture him working quickly, trying to get the image down, before it disappeared! The thin washes of paint and sketchy lines feel very immediate. I love the way that one long stroke of gold suggests the curve of her back, while the blue-grey blob at the top could be her head. It’s like Munch is pulling the figure out of the ground. With such fluid brushstrokes, he’s thinking through painting. It’s almost as if he’s saying, “what does it mean to be a figure in the world?” Munch reminds us that painting is an ongoing conversation across time.