Alma Mater; Exploring Children 1914 - 1915

Edvard Munch created this piece, Alma Mater; Exploring Children, with what looks like thin washes of paint on a large surface. You can feel the process, can't you? The way the pigment settles into the weave of the canvas reminds me of watercolors, but there’s something else going on. Look at the flesh tones of the figures in the foreground. They're built up with these incredibly delicate layers of peach, rose, and pale yellows. The paint is so thin, so transparent, it almost feels like he's trying to capture the fleeting blush of skin. Then, your eye travels up to the background, and it's this hazy, dreamlike landscape. Those horizontal brushstrokes create a sense of distance, but they also flatten the space, pushing the background forward. I see a kinship with someone like Odilon Redon, another artist who knew how to blend the real with the unreal. It's not about answers here, is it? It’s about possibilities.