Stående figur 1909 - 1910

Edvard Munch made this drawing, 'Standing Figure,' with ink and watercolor on paper. The urgency of the strokes, the way the image just barely hangs together – it’s like a feeling on the verge of disappearing. Look at the blue mixed in with the blacks of the figure’s coat. It bleeds and blends, refusing to stay inside the lines. The same with the peachy streaks in the sky. It’s less about what the scene looks like and more about how it feels to witness it. I love how the medium here – ink and watercolor – lends itself to this kind of emotional weather. The way the colors pool and run, the unpredictable edges. It mirrors the way emotions wash over us, how they’re never quite contained or controlled. Munch's loose handling reminds me of Philip Guston's later work, that same sense of raw vulnerability.