Edvard Munch - founder of German Expressionism (the eve of the exhibition in the Pushkin Museum)

[Мунк]

On the eve of the exhibition of artists of the "bridge" which opens in GMII im. Pushkin sixth of September this year, would be appropriate to recall the artist that stood at the beginnings of XX century Expressionist movement, originating from this artistic association. I'm talking about the Norwegians Edvard Munch (1863-1944), who along with Van Gogh called "the father" of German expressionism.

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According to Herbert Read, "the beginning of the modern German school, standing in a clear isolation of the Parisian school, to be found in Scandinavian art, Edvard Munch ... According to the modern German movement, he takes a position comparable to Cézanne in the French painting. One can say that he saved the German art from slavish following of the post-Impressionist school, he returned it to the model more in tune with the expressiveness of the northern genius. " Artists of "Bridge" - E. Kirchner, E. Heckel, K. Schmidt-Rotluff, F. Bleyl, E. Nolde, M. Pechstein - embraced by Munch proto-expressionistic formal language, techniques of writing and existential issues.

Flourishing creativity Munch accounted for decade 1892-1902 period, when the artist created a series of symbolist paintings on themes of love, fear and death, later called "Vries Life. First notoriety came to him in Germany in 1892, where he became famous painter and an anarchist revolutionary. Here he met with his rich clients and patrons to whom he owes his income in 1890 and 1900's. The recognition of the general public, and with it, and material stability come to him only after 1909, and for two decades 1910-20-ies he uses limitless glory coryphaeus contemporary art.

Edvard Munch's creative activity lasted more than six decades until his death in 1944, occupied by German troops Oslo. In addition to the famous "Vries Life" artist worked in the genre of portraiture, landscape, was an eminent engraver and monumental. This portrait and the landscape made him the first recognition of the public at the turn of 19-20 centuries.

Bright individual style of Munch, the reputation of "lone wolf" was not allowed to assign it to any school he has always been detached master artist and extremely subjective, making it difficult the task of defining its place in the history of artistic styles. For a long time, its value in the world of art on the right to determine how the father of German expressionism, which is still not in doubt. Studies of Norwegian and American scientists of the second half of XX century deepened understanding of the art of Munch, and with 70 years of the last century it was seen as the creator of a special direction in art symbolism late 19 - early 20 th centuries, which became the basis of aesthetics of the Bridge. " No overloading of art terms, this short message, which is still impossible to exhaustively characterize the work of Munch, will focus on the essence of his art, transmitted by definition - the existential, psychological and introspective symbolism. What is behind this?

The subject of Munch's Symbolism - is the archetypal emotions that everyone feels that can not be avoided. In other words, Munch examines the psychology of the primary, resulting from the basic instincts of human existence (existence): physical love, the fear of being, the fear of death. Problems of existence is in any era, they are relevant to us now.

In addition, the work of Munch symbolize spiritual problems late XIX century - the era of fin de siecle - such as biological determinism, gender pessimism and tragic self-awareness.

All the reasons the series "Love", "Fear of life", "Death" are autobiographical and created by the artist based on their own life experiences. Self-reflection, immersion in his own mental life (introspection) turns in his analysis of modern life. With the developed scenic art means and unique ability to generalize Munch raises personal traumatic experience for universal human level. His paintings are symbols of the subconscious of human emotions - passion, jealousy, despair, fear. Of all the artists of the Symbolist he is perhaps the only one that directly touches the audience for "living nerves. Therefore, his work has long been denied - it is too hidden, to expose the soul of modern man "unsightly" feeling, but it was not the show in the art, especially in countries with Protestant denominations.

The basic idea of Munch's art was a man, the problems and difficulties of his existence. In the article "Edvard Munch's Expressionism," published in 1952, the famous expressionist painter Oskar Kokoschka wrote: "astute look Edvard Munch realized panic humanity. His art, which revealed a twisted fear faces, shocked. He is ahead of time, as many of the great spiritual fathers ". And another phrase, which I really like: "hidden behind the intellectual arrogance of modern man looks at life from top to bottom with the theoretical heights. The concept of rights "as a measure of all things, seems to have vanished forever. Expressionism is opposite depicts life as a direct experience as experience.

"Frieze of life" Edvard Munch consists of three series: "Love" (the reasons "The Birth of Love", "Sunset and the blossoming of love"), "Fear of life", "Death". The most famous works:

Series "Love": The Voice (Dreams of a Summer Night), Kiss, Vampire (Love and pain), Madonna (conception), Melancholy (Jealousy), Ash (After the Fall), Sphinx (Three-age women), Break, Dance of life.

Series "Fear of life: Despair (The mood at sunset), Scream, Fear, Evening on Karl Johann gate.

Series "Death": A room of the dying, at the deathbed, the mother Dead, Death at the helm, Death and the child, Metabolism.

In the USSR, was published only one translated monograph on Munch, written in 1944, Norwegian Rolf Stenersenom, another artist in the last years of his life. She went to Moscow in 1971, entitled "Edvard Munch. Close to genius ". Except for two small albums and translated this book, the literature on Munke in Russian it. That is why last year published a book by Norwegian A. Ness - "Edvard Munch: A Biography of the artist" - so dolgozhdanna for admirers of art of this remarkable artist. Its review I put in the theme "Books on art».