Winter on the Fjord

Munch often painted outdoors, and many of his landscapes are direct responses to the places they depict. Here, it was the hills and rock formations near Kragerø with a view of the fjord that provided the subject matter. The combination of site-specific nature study with a relatively free, expressive idiom is characteristic of many of the landscapes he produced at Kragerø. The stark contrast between the patches of black rock and the white snow produces a graphic effect, which is softened by rich nuances of colour in the snow and the unifying bluish-violet key tone. The vivid light and the use of coarse, heavy brushstrokes signal dynamism and energy, a quality we find in many of Munch's paintings from this period.

Following his convalescence at Dr. Jacobson's private clinic in Denmark from autumn 1908 to spring 1909, Munch returned to Norway. Initially, he set up home at Kragerø, where he rented the Skrubben property. The months he spent there were artistically rewarding. He produced works of renewed vitality and cultivated a growing network of collectors and clients. The period culminates in the decorative paintings for the central hall, the Aula, at the university in Kristiania (Oslo), which he completed in 1916. Both thematically and stylistically, *Winter on the Fjord *can be read in conjunction with that major commission. The contours and shapes of the landscape are echoed in several of the Aula paintings, including Solen (The Sun). During the period 1909--1916, Munch produced a number of comparable winter landscapes while staying either at Kragerø or at Hvitsten deeper into the fjord on the opposite shore. This painting is one of several such pictures from 1915, the last year he stayed at Kragerø. Two works from the same year can be related to this one (Woll 2008, M 1125; M 1127).

This is the only landscape painting from Kragerø in the National Museum's collection. It was gifted to the National Gallery by Charlotte and Christian Mustad in 1937.

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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