Edvard Munch: Beyond the Scream

Best known for his haunting masterpiece The Scream, Edvard Munch was far more than a single image. This three-hour lecture explores the life, ideas, and enduring impact of one of modern art’s most psychologically intense and visually striking figures. Born in 1863 in Norway, Munch's art was shaped by personal trauma, existential anxiety, and a deep interest in the emotional and symbolic capacities of painting. Yet his creative reach extended far beyond a single work. In this session, we’ll delve into Munch’s broader body of work—his experimentation with colour, form, and media; his influence on German Expressionism and later 20th-century art; and his ability to translate themes of love, death, alienation, and desire into unforgettable visual language. We’ll explore how Munch navigated the social and intellectual movements of his time, and how his art evolved over a long and prolific career.

Moving beyond his most iconic image, we will explore Munch’s powerful printmaking, which allowed him to distil his emotional themes into bold, economical forms. We will consider his psychologically charged portraits and self-portraits, and his often-overlooked landscapes, where mood and memory shape the natural world. Together, these works reveal a complex artist who returned obsessively to key motifs, finding new meaning in repetition and reinvention.