Angst 1896

Editor: This is Edvard Munch’s "Angst," a print from the Harvard Art Museums. The faces are so striking, almost ghostly. What do you make of the raw emotion here? Curator: Munch is tapping into the social anxieties of his time. These figures, are they victims of or complicit in the societal alienation that was growing alongside industrialization? Editor: Complicit, maybe? They seem trapped, not just suffering. Curator: Exactly. Are their expressions a critique of bourgeois society, a collective anxiety visualized? Or do you read something else in it? Editor: I didn't initially, but seeing it as social commentary makes a lot of sense now. Thanks! Curator: Understanding the socio-political context helps us decode the personal angst. Always consider the intersection of self and society.