MUNCH Museum in Oslo is another spectacular site in Oslo

MUNCH Museum was designed by Estudio Herreros and opened in 2021.  The 13-story building is known for its asymmetrical design and is clad in perforated recycled aluminum panels to reflect the shifting natural light of Oslo.  It houses the world's largest collections dedicated to a single artist, Expressionist Edvard Munch (1863 - 1944).

Bathing Young Men, 1904, features expressive nude figures interacting by the water in a style characterized by swirling brushstrokes and bold outlines.  The color palette is dominated by blues, greens, and yellows.

Melancholy III, a powerful 1902 woodcut.  It depicts a brooding, solitary figure with his head resting on his hand in the foreground, set against a dark shoreline and a swirling, abstracted landscape.  Munch was a pioneer of the woodcut medium, often sawing the woodblock into separate pieces, inking them individually, and reassembling them like a puzzle to create varied color prints.

 

The Sick Child  (Norwegian: Det syke barn).  The motif depicts Munch's older sister, Johanne Sophie, who tragically died of tuberculosis at age 15. She is shown pale and propped up in bed, while her grieving aunt Karen bows her head in sorrow.  He considered this theme a breakthrough in his career and returned to it obsessively over a 40-year period. 

The Girls on the Bridge, 1927.  Three figures in vibrant dresses and hats lean over a wooden pier railing in Åsgårdstrand, a coastal town along the Oslofjord in Norway that served as a profound inspiration for Munch's summer landscapes.  Characterized by bold brushstrokes and heavy outlines, the piece captures a melancholic mood, contrasting the soft curves of the shoreline and giant linden tree against the rigid geometry of the pier. 

Summer Night ~ Mermaid, 1893, reflects Munch's signature Symbolist style, capturing a mystical coastal scene illuminated by a pillar of moonlight—a recurring motif in his work.

Workers in the Snow, 1913, depicts a group of laborers in a wedge formation, holding shovels and resting after their exertion in a snowy landscape.

It was years ago when I saw a women standing in a gallery with her back to the viewer looking at a row of portraits that was part of a Viking River Cruise Line commercial that sparked my interest.  Especially when I found out they were painted by Edvard Munch! 

Munch Portraits, 1909.  From left to right:  Torvald Stang, a lawyer and barrister who was a close friend of Munch. He is shown full-length wearing a dark suit and hat while holding a pipe.  Munch's close friend, the Norwegian writer and art critic Jappe Nilssen.  Professor Daniel Jacobson life-sized, full-length portrait showing the doctor against a vibrant, impressionistic yellow and red background.  Self-Portrait with Brushes - 1904.

Dagny Juel Przybyszewska (1893), Dagny Juel, was a prominent Norwegian writer, pianist, and a central muse for various avant-garde artists and writers in Berlin during the 1890s.  The portrait reflects Munch's early expressionist style with its dark and ghostly palette.

The Wedding of the Bohemian, 1925, depicts a crowded dinner scene illustrating themes of love and profound social isolation. Notably, the figure sitting on the far left, looking away from the rest of the gathering, is widely interpreted to be Munch himself.  Real-life friends and bohemians from Munch's circle inspired this scene.

Self-Portrait with Bottles was painted between roughly 1938 and 1942, during the final years of his life.   In this haunting, late-career "self-scrutiny," Munch depicts his aging self surrounded by bottles, confronting themes of isolation, introspection, and his lifelong struggles with alcoholism.

Elm Forest in Spring (1923) portrays a sunlit, dynamic woodland scene featuring gnarled elm trees and an emerging forest floor entering spring.

Karen Bjolstad, an 1888 oil-on-canvas portrait depicting his maternal aunt who raised him after his mother's death. 

 

We took a a 2 1/2 hour fjord tour one beautiful morning.  The glass structure is titled She Lies, a permanent public sculpture designed by artist Monica Bonvicini. Constructed from stainless steel and transparent glass panels, this 12-meter-tall artwork floats on a concrete platform.  It is built to slowly turn on its axis in response to the wind and tide, offering changing reflections and perspectives.  The museum is in the background.

The museum is also famous for its distinctively leaning top section (the "kink") that tilts 15 degrees toward the fjord.

The upper level of the museum showcases panoramic views over the Oslofjord and the city harbor.  

The building on the right with the distinctive repeating, box-like staggered window pattern is the Diagonale designed by Atelier Oslo and Lundhagem, housing a mix of offices, apartments and retail space.   Left of it is the striking glass-paneled building with the large top cantilevered design, the Deichman Bjorvika, Oslo's six-story central library.  The building in the front with the sloping roof is the iconic Oslo Opera House. 

The Oslo Opera House opened in 2008.  Resembling a glacier floating on the shores of the Oslofjord, the sloping roof features around 36,000 blocks of white Italian Carrera marble where visitors can climb and enjoy the view.  

The re-development of the area with the museum, opera house, library, other contemporary buildings and new restaurants really has bought the waterfront back to life.  Similar to what the Guggenheim Museum did for Bilbao in Spain. 

It is interesting on how the "Circle of Life" repeats itself through out the art world.  I witnessed this in Oslo, from the murals at City Hall, to the sculptures at the Vigelandsparken by Vigeland, to many of the painting by Munch at the museum.  And certainly a common theme in Mexican Folk Art that I have collected over the last 40 some years.

Edvard Munch and Gustav Vigeland lived at the same time, but were rivals rather than friends. As young artists, they both lived in Berlin. Even though they respected each other as artists, they were never close. Munch even accused Vigeland of stealing his main idea: While Vigeland devoted his sculpture park to the circle of life, Munch’s main project was the frieze of life, a series of paintings exploring love, anxiety, death and the human condition through a deeply and expressionist view.

Olso is a fascinating city with spectacular sites to see.  I look forward to returning and exploring more of what it has to offer.