Experiment in Colour 1915 - 1916

Edvard Munch, a Norwegian artist working in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, created this untitled work as an experiment in color and form. This was a period of great social change, with burgeoning feminist and socialist movements challenging traditional norms. Munch’s work often grapples with the angst of modern existence. We see this sentiment echoed in the vivid colors and loose brushstrokes, the tension speaking to a broader sense of societal unease and shifting identities. The figures in the foreground seem dwarfed by the explosion of color above them, perhaps reflecting a sense of individual helplessness in the face of overwhelming social forces. Munch once said, “I do not paint what I see, but what I saw.” This piece, though abstract, powerfully conveys an emotional landscape shaped by the currents of its time. It invites us to contemplate the relationship between personal experience and the sweeping changes of history.