Edvard Munch - Garden in Taarbaek 1905

Edvard Munch made "Garden in Taarbaek" with oil paint – and what I love is that he seems to build the garden, brick by brick, with dabs and dashes of colour. There's this dance between representation and expression that I think Munch is really good at – like, it’s a garden, sure, but it's also a field of feeling. The pinks in the wall, for example, they’re not just descriptive; they’re emotionally charged. I can imagine him standing there, brush in hand, wrestling with how to convey not just what he sees, but what he feels. And then, wham, a stroke of blue-green to bring that feeling alive. Painters always learn from each other, like a long conversation across time. Munch was definitely listening in, and adding his own voice, raw and full of feeling, to the mix.