Midsummer

Munch's interest in the theme of bathers can be traced back to the 1890s and paintings such as Bathing Boys (The Nathional Museum, NG.M.01826). But it was in the early years of the new century that naked people bathing and soaking up the summer sun in outdoor settings became a focal concern generating many variations. Several works that Munch produced at Warnemünde on the Baltic Sea in north Germany during the summers of 1907 and 1908 seem to have encouraged this interest. Pictures such as Midsummer and Bathing Man (National Museum, NG.M.01699) illustrate how Munch developed the theme, although they also represent a continuation of his enduring preoccupation with the nude as such.

In Midsummer it is the female body that predominates. Six naked figures are spread out seemingly at random on the rocks beside the sea -- sitting, lying, standing. The bodies interact with the warm rocks, or seem to grow from them. The work is loosely composed around a triangular structure, which converges on one figure standing vertically on the central axis. A lush green area in the foreground contrasts with the warmer tones of the middle ground and the sparkling blue of the sea beyond, and the green-tinged hills on the far side of the fjord.

The work was painted at Hvitsten in 1915. In November 1910, Munch bought Nedre Ramme, a property in this village on the eastern shore of the Oslo Fjord. The location in the painting has been identified as a section of rocky shoreline just below the main house, while the models were probably Ingeborg Kaurin and her sister Solveig (Thiis 1933; Gauguin 1933; Flaatten 2016). The former worked frequently as a model around this time and is the subject of many nude paintings. Munch often came to Nedre Ramme to work and stay, not just during the summers, but also in the winter months. It was here that he produced several of the large canvases for the central hall, or Aula, at the university in Kristiania (Oslo). The property was sold after Munch's death in 1944.

The picture is a good example of Munch's artistic renewal in the early decades of the 20th century. The theme and idiom reflect the popularity in that period of vitalistic ideas, which celebrated outdoor activity, sports, health and body culture as expressions of a life-affirming attitude. Sunbathing was perceived as especially beneficial for health and well-being.

The painting was acquired by Olaf Schou from Munch's 1915 exhibition in Kristiania (Oslo) and immediately donated to the National Gallery. Munch produced another slightly smaller version of the same scene, probably around the same time (Woll 2008, M 1157). There are also several related, colour woodcuts with people sunbathing on the rocks from the same year (Sunbathing I and Sunbathing II, 1915, Woll 2001, G 536; G 537).

Øystein Ustvedt

The text was first published in Edvard Munch in the National Museum. A comprehensive overview (Oslo: National Museum, 2022).

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