Text Page 1908 - 1909

Curator: Here we have Edvard Munch's "Text Page," created between 1908 and 1909. It’s a fascinating collage that brings together printmaking, typography, and even textiles on paper. Editor: It does feel, even at a glance, almost like an intimate diary entry, or maybe a scattered manuscript. The browns are faded, giving it a sepia-toned, aged mood. It invites close reading. Curator: Munch often incorporated literary and symbolic themes, particularly the Alpha and Omega motif—the beginning and the end. In this piece, you can see how he’s interwoven text and images. He was also playing with the concept of myth making with those titles. Editor: The image is busy but so considered. All those scraps, lines, forms, even what looks like perhaps fabric remnants create the narrative of the text… Do you get the sense he was illustrating a myth, Curator? Curator: Exactly! The visual weight of these images feels almost dreamlike, wouldn't you say? I wonder, what do you make of the seemingly unfinished state, or this idea of layering the image? Editor: Layering here certainly feels symbolic. This gives me a peek into a stream of consciousness or memory – the layering reminds me of palimpsests. Curator: It reminds me of the process of understanding! Things are murky and opaque, and then certain aspects become clearer over time. Maybe this connects with how Munch explored memory and inner turmoil. Editor: Interesting… This piece, so unique, shows the eternal quest for comprehension. Looking back I feel there's always more to excavate and interpret from what appears fragmented at first sight. Curator: Right you are! From personal revelation to symbolic understanding, there's always something hidden within each creative choice we discover with time.