Bathing Men on Rocks 1915

Edvard Munch made this painting, Bathing Men on Rocks, with loose brushstrokes and a palette of greens, blues, and fleshy pinks. I can picture him working on this outside, trying to capture the shimmer of light on skin and water. It looks like he was figuring out how to fit figures into a landscape. There's a real vulnerability in the way he renders the human form, like he’s searching for a way to express something beyond the surface. The paint is applied in layers, with some areas thinly washed and others built up with thicker strokes, especially around the rocks. Look at how those strokes communicate the feeling of rough stone under bare feet. I imagine Munch wrestling with his own anxieties and desires as he painted this, maybe even finding a sense of release in the act of creation. And I see his influence in so many artists today. Painting is like a big conversation across generations, and we're all just trying to add our own voices to the mix.