Stående akt c. 1918

Editor: We're looking at Edvard Munch's "Stående akt," or "Standing Nude," from around 1918, made with watercolor. It's interesting to see Munch working with such a fluid medium, but there's still a kind of rawness to the sketch. What do you see in this piece? Curator: I see Munch grappling with representation and vulnerability, themes that consistently ran through his oeuvre. This watercolor isn't just about the depiction of the nude body; it's about the lived experience of existing in a body, especially in relation to visibility and societal expectations. Considering the historical moment, emerging from the shadow of Victorian prudery and on the cusp of significant shifts in gender roles, how might this portrayal be interpreted? Editor: It feels less idealized and more immediate than a lot of nudes I've seen from earlier periods. There's something about the looseness of the lines, especially in the face and the torso, that suggests a kind of emotional truth. Curator: Precisely! Think about Expressionism's core tenets. This wasn't about perfect imitation but emotional evocation. In that light, the distorted figure becomes less about aesthetic beauty and more about an exploration of psychological and existential anxieties. How might we read the red splashes around the face and torso in that context? Editor: They almost read like…bruises? Or maybe just heightened emotion, a flush. Curator: Both interpretations resonate, bringing up important ideas about visibility, the internal made external. This connects to broader feminist and psychoanalytic ideas developing around the same time. It challenges conventional ways of seeing and representing the body. Editor: That’s fascinating. I’ll never look at a “nude” the same way again. Curator: Good! Seeing, truly seeing, always transforms us.