Lady from the sea 1896

Edvard Munch painted ‘Lady from the Sea’ in Norway, a country with a strong tradition of folklore. The image depicts a nude woman rising from the water beside a pillar-like structure, with a melancholy, searching gaze. This symbolist painting is imbued with possible meanings, from a simple representation of an undine of Germanic folklore, to a more complex and personal interpretation that is associated with the artist's private life and the intellectual atmosphere of Kristiania, now Oslo. Munch was fascinated by the myths and legends of his homeland, and he often incorporated them into his work. But what's really interesting is how Munch uses the imagery of folklore to explore his own personal anxieties and obsessions, which at the time are quite contemporary: love, death, and the complexities of human relationships. To understand the context of this painting better, we might look at historical documents such as old Norwegian folk tales or at the institutional settings that supported and exhibited art during Munch’s lifetime. It is here that the true value of the painting is to be found.