Set Design for Henrik Ibsen’s Ghosts 1906

Edvard Munch made this oil on board as a set design for Henrik Ibsen’s play, Ghosts. Looking at it, you can almost feel the artist’s hand moving, the brush dancing across the surface, as he searches for the essence of Ibsen's drama through these forms and figures. The colors, mostly muted browns, blues and greens, feel heavy and brooding, like the play itself. But then there's that flash of red, a tiny spark amidst the darkness. It’s so Munch, right? It’s a stand-in for the hidden passions and tragic secrets bubbling beneath the surface. And those ghostly yellow streaks in the upper left, like ectoplasm, what are they about? Maybe some sense of dread or the supernatural that hangs over the play, or maybe a visual metaphor of the malaise of the characters. It all suggests a conversation between Munch and Ibsen, each inspiring the other to delve deeper into the human condition.