A new Edvard Munch exhibition opens at Harvard Art Museums.
Madonna
You may be vaguely aware that the vacant-eyed screaming emoji on your phone’s keypad is based on a painting entitled The Scream. Learn more about the painting and its creator Edvard Munch at Harvard Art Museums’ (harvardartmuseums.org) exhibition Edvard Munch: Technically Speaking opening on March 7. Boasting one of the largest Munch collections in the U.S., mostly due to pivotal gifts from collectors, Harvard-alum Philip Straus and his wife Lynn who bequeathed their entire collection to Harvard. The transformative gift became the impetus for this exhibition. “We thought, why not examine that and celebrate it?” says Lynette Roth who curated the exhibition with Elizabeth M. Rudy.
Two Human Beings.
A collaboration between conservators and curators, the exhibition showcases the technical aspects of Munch’s artistic experimentation. “We have the resources to investigate the ways in which Munch pushed traditional media in new and exciting ways in the late 19th century. We’re hoping to give our visitors the tools to look closely at the works and see what he was doing differently than many of his contemporaries,” says Roth. To that end, there will be a glossary upon entering the exhibition which will help define and explain the terms used when talking about printmaking and painting.
Self-Portrait
The pieces will have detailed labels describing what each is made of, whether on a board or canvas, a woodcut or an etching. The 70 works selected for the exhibition help best tell the story of Munch’s technical experimentation and aren’t displayed in a linear fashion but instead as a dialogue between time and place which models the variations and developments. “This collection uniquely allows for comparative close looking and we are approaching the exhibition for our audiences in a similar way. Visitors who aren’t familiar with Munch will come away with an appreciation for his work and others who are more familiar will, I hope, learn to see it in a whole new light,” says Roth.
Photography by: HARVARD ART MUSEUMS
