Rosa Meissner 1907

Edvard Munch made this oil painting of Rosa Meissner with short, gestural marks, and a palette that feels both muted and intense, a real vibe. I can imagine him, brush in hand, circling the canvas, trying to pin down her likeness, maybe battling with it, wiping away at things, but also letting chance and accident have their say. The way the background almost vibrates feels so physical. You can almost feel the bristles of the brush and the drag of the paint. There’s a real edginess to the image, but tenderness too. Munch was always looking at the inside as much as the outside. The way he captured a feeling through those marks, makes me think of other painters too, like Van Gogh, who used a similar language of touch to express something deeply personal. We can feel ourselves into the moment of its making, into an ongoing conversation about what paint can do.