The Sun 1910 - 1912

Edvard Munch made this painting, 'The Sun', and it seems like he might have been using oil paint, maybe thinned out, or perhaps it's gouache, scrubbed onto a cardboard surface. Look at those radiating marks, like colourful explosions, pinks and blues dancing with the yellows and whites. I wonder if Munch started with an idea of the sun, but then got lost in the act of painting itself? Maybe he had a vision of the landscape, and a feeling of longing, but then the painting took over. The sun itself has an eye-like quality and the landscape seems to stretch away, pulled by the radiating light. I sympathise with Munch here. Making a painting is an ongoing conversation and exchange of ideas across time, inspiring one another’s creativity. Painting is about expressing a feeling or sensation and embracing ambiguity. There is not fixed reading here and the painting opens up a space of imagination.