The Heart 1898 - 1899

Curator: Here we have Edvard Munch's print, "The Heart," housed here at Harvard Art Museums. Editor: The stark contrast grabs you immediately. A striking red heart seems to bleed into the figure, while the black background makes it feel like a painful secret. Curator: Indeed. Munch often explored themes of anxiety and emotional turmoil. Considering the social constraints placed upon women's bodies and identities during his time, one wonders what this image suggests about the heart as a symbol of both vulnerability and confinement. Editor: It's interesting how the woodcut technique, with its deliberate carving, lends a raw, almost brutal quality to the emotion. The materiality amplifies the feeling, like emotional labor etched into the very fiber of the wood. Curator: Precisely. The deliberate use of color—that ghostly green—speaks volumes about the female body under scrutiny. Editor: It leaves you thinking about the weight of expectation, doesn’t it? Curator: Absolutely. It's a poignant reminder of the burdens carried within.