Fascinating paintings showing his transition from realism to Symbolism, emphasising symmetry and rhythm in society.
series
An overview, comments on its narrative nature, and indexes to the previous articles about the Frieze.
Last of the four sections in the Frieze, it consists almost entirely of paintings added since the first version. These show episodes from Munch’s own life.
With the love affair over, the Frieze tackles the resulting anxiety, in which the key themes in its first painting are developed in detail.
The second section maintains the botanical metaphor, in which love flowers, and passes. Six superb paintings explain.
The first six paintings in his mature 1902 version of the Frieze explore the early development of love, told from a very personal point of view.
Each of the paintings exhibited by Munch in 1895 tells a part of his story of ‘the life of the soul’, of love between man and woman. And of Munch’s own life.
The final group of charcoal drawings brings disaster and redemption, with increasingly rich detail and symbolism.
The first group of charcoal drawings traces the man’s life as an adult, from solitude in a vast forest, to a bacchanalian orgy.
This completes the 18 oil paintings. The series continues with another 16 charcoal drawings.
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