Omega's Death 1908 - 1909

This is Edvard Munch’s "Omega's Death," a lithograph, presently residing at The Art Institute of Chicago. It’s all about the gestural quality of the marks, the way the lines seem to vibrate with emotion, a sketch in action. The drawing is sparse, but it's got this rawness to it. Look at how he renders the figure's hands; there's a sensitivity there. The texture almost feels incidental. The physical medium is just the transfer of the artists intentions to the lithographic stone. I can almost feel the artist searching for the right line, the perfect weight. The figure of death is hunched over, and the face is obscured; that simple area speaks volumes about loss and grief. You could say it has something of the emotional intensity of Van Gogh, but without all that swirling paint, it’s pared back. It's like he's stripping away everything unnecessary to get to the core of the feeling. It's a testament to the power of suggestion in art, the art of leaving things unsaid.