Rue Lafayette
- Artist: Edvard Munch
- Creation date: 1891
About
In 1889, when Munch received a bursary from the Norwegian state, he went to Paris, where he familiarised himself with the period’s contemporary painters. The big city and modern life. Rhythm, pulse and movement.
In the second half of the 19th century, Paris underwent major changes in its urban planning. Old buildings and districts were torn down to make way for long, broad, straight avenues and boulevards. These rapidly became part of the city’s visual identity and a popular subject for many of the period’s most influential artists, who were interested in depicting life in the modern metropolis.
The vantage point, the dramatic perspective and the diffuse form in this picture owe a lot to impressionist painting. The paint is applied in rhythmical, speckled and slanting strokes creating a radiant, vibrant overall effect. Here Munch has combined a punctual brushstroke with a concise style that points beyond the subject matter that is actually registered.
In spring 1891, Munch occupied rooms at Rue Lafayette no. 49. Presumably it is the view from his own rooms that he has taken as the basis for this painting. To the left we glimpse the Rue Drouot and the Rue Faubourg-Montmartre. The impression of bustling, pulsating life out on the street is offset by the sombre figure on the balcony. The painting shows Munch’s strong interest in impressionism during this period. It remained, however, an interlude, and in the years that followed he preferred to explore other directions.
The picture was purchased for the National Gallery in 1933 with funds donated by Olaf Schou.
- Edvard Munch collection catalogue
Munch painted this picture during the months he spent in Paris in spring 1891. In April he wrote to his aunt Karen: “I live in a lovely room with a balcony – Address: Rue Lafayette 49” (MM N 771). Several of his pictures from the years 1890–91 are street views from Paris, Nice and Kristiania. Rue Lafayette gives an immediate impression of modern metropolitan life. Here he depicts a long, wide street bustling with people and horse-drawn vehicles seen from a high balcony. The colours are muted, with much grey and dashes of clearer tones. Short, parallel brushstrokes give the illusion of shimmering activity. The choice of subject, the diffuse forms and conspicuous brushwork show that Munch has been studying the French impressionists. In a note from 1933, he recalled his early encounters with Paris and the impressionistic experiments he conducted at the time: “During my first stay in Paris I conducted a few experiments with pure Pointillism – simply spots of colour – Karl Johan (Bergen’s gallery). It was a brief resumption of my Impressionism – The Picture from rue La Fayette was really only a subject for French painters but I was in Paris after all – The short strokes in the same direction I had long used in Norway.” (emunch.no: 1927–1933, MM N 122)
Munch had already visited Paris the previous year. On that occasion, he had painted Night in Saint-Cloud (Nasjonalmuseet, NG.M.01111), a picture that was considered at the time as a transitional work, in its emphasis on the evocation of an emotional mood rather than the reproduction of an observed reality. However, Munch was highly receptive to new influences, and in subsequent years he painted several impressionistic sunlit scenes, such as Rue Lafayette. Even so, this work does have several features in common with Night in Saint-Cloud, such as the use of perspective lines, the emphasis on spatial depth and the application of the paint in small, parallel, diagonal brushstrokes that create a sense of rhythm. In Rue Lafayette, Munch borrowed compositional structures and themes that were common among French artists of the time, such as Claude Monet, Gustave Caillebotte and Camille Pissarro (Eggum 1991, Rappetti 1991 A, Berman 2008). Munch soon abandoned the neo-impressionist styles he had experimented with in the years 1889–91, while continuing to employ some of the striking perspective effects. He returns to the vertiginous vantage point of Rue Lafayette a few years later in Scream (Nasjonalmuseet, NG.M.00939).
The picture was exhibited for the first time at Munch’s solo exhibition at Tostrupgården in Kristiania in 1892, under the title Udsigt over en gade i Paris (View of a Street in Paris). Initially in private ownership, it was purchased for the collection with funds donated to the National Gallery by Olaf Schou in 1933.
Vibeke Waallann Hansen The text was first published in Edvard Munch in the National Museum. A comprehensive overview (Oslo: National Museum, 2022).
- Creation date:
- 1891
- Object type:
- Painting
- Materials and techniques:
- Olje på lerret
- Material:
- Canvas
- Dimensions:
- Height: 92 cm
- Width: 73 cm
- Keywords:
- Visual art
- Classification:
- 532 - Bildende kunst
- Motif - type:
- Street scene
- Motif - location:
- Paris, Frankrike
- Production place:
- Paris, Frankrike
- Inventory no.:
- NG.M.01725
- Cataloguing level:
- Single object
- Inscriptions:
- Primary, Signature and dating, nede høyre: E. Munch 91
- Acquisition:
- Purchased with funds from Olaf Schous gift 1933
- Provenance:
- [40] Previous owner, Thora Lynneberg
[40] Previous owner, Johannes Lynneberg - Owner and collection:
- Nasjonalmuseet for kunst, arkitektur og design, The Fine Art Collections
- Photo:
- Høstland, Børre
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Other works by Edvard Munch
The KissEdvard Munch1892
MoonlightEdvard Munch(1893)
Julius Meier-GraefeEdvard MunchAntagelig 1894
From Vestre AkerEdvard Munch1881
Young Woman Washing herselfEdvard Munch(1896)
MelancholyEdvard MunchAntagelig 1892
Flowery Meadow at VeierlandEdvard Munch(1887)
White NightEdvard MunchPåbegynt 1900, avsluttet 1901
Naked Woman in Front of a HouseEdvard Munch1883 eller 1884
Self-PortraitEdvard Munch1905
Hjørdis GierløffEdvard MunchPlaten utført 1913 eller 1914; trykket 1914
NudeEdvard MunchPlaten utført 1897; trykket 1913
