In the winter of 1899, Munch spent several weeks at his parental home at Nordstrand just outside Kristiania. The following winter he decided to stay in the same area again. In planning his stay, he wrote to his Aunt Karen, asking for help in finding accommodation: "... Could you look into it -- it should be up on the hill and in the woods." (emunch.no: MM N 837). Munch took a room in Birgitte Hammer's guest house, which he already knew, and during his stay there he produced a number of winter pictures (Høifødt 2010). In *White Night *we see both the elevation of the hill and the woods he had asked for. The work is composed according to the classic principle of a foreground, middle ground and background, giving the impression of a broad vista. The foreground is dominated by large, decoratively rendered pine trees. A slanting line leads the gaze down towards a yellow house, while towards the horizon we see the fjord covered with ice. Above the landscape hangs a starry sky. Although it is night, a dim light pervades the scene. The sun has set, and the colours and contrasts of nature have faded in the encroaching darkness. It is as if Munch's aim here were to capture the characteristic light of a nocturnal landscape blanketed in snow. The pervasive bluish tones allow us to compare this work with the many mood paintings he produced in the 1890s where blue is also the dominant colour, such as Night in Saint-Cloud (Nasjonalmuseet, NG.M.01111), Night in Nice (Nasjonalmuseet, NG.M.00394) and The Kiss (Nasjonalmuseet, NG.M.02812).
During his stay at Nordstrand in 1899, he had painted Winter in the Woods (Nasjonalmuseet, NG.M.00570), a picture that could be described as signalling a new interest in the landscape genre. Woods and trees now become a focus of attention, and in the months between his first and second stays at Nordstrand, he painted several forest interiors. These were probably done at Åsgårdstrand in the summer of 1899 (Woll M 452-456).
In September 1901, Munch held a large solo exhibition at Hollændergaarden in Kristiania, where White Night was shown for the first time. Earlier that year, the National Gallery had purchased Winter in the Woods, but the purchasing committee wanted to enlarge its collection of Munch paintings still further. Several works were mentioned for consideration. These included *Girls on the Bridge *(Nasjonalmuseet, NG.M.00844), *The Scream *(Nasjonalmuseet, NG.M.00939) and The Day After(Nasjonalmuseet, NG.M.00808), all of which later found their way into the collection, but ultimately the committee opted for White Night. Thus the collection acquired another winter landscape in the same year.
No date is marked on the painting, but in 1933, Munch wrote to Jens Thiis: "White Night, Birch in Snow, Island and Melancholy were painted in the winter of 1900--01" (emunch.no: MM N 3105). He painted an entire group of landscapes based on the woodlands and views in the area of Bunnefjord. *Vinternatt *(Winter Night), now in the Kunsthaus Zurich (1900-1901, Woll M 475), is an alternative version of the same view, but in a wider format, in contrast to the almost square format of White Night. The Munch Museum's somewhat simpler *Vinternatt *(Winter Night) (1900-1901, Woll M 476) shows almost the same prospect, although here we also see some details of the balcony at Hammer's guest house. It is White Night that is now seen as Munch's principal work of that winter.
Vibeke Waallann Hansen
The text was first published in Edvard Munch in the National Museum. A comprehensive overview (Oslo: National Museum, 2022).
