The Fairytale Forest
- Artist: Edvard Munch
- Creation date: 1901 eller 1902
About
Six children stand with their backs to us looking towards a dense green forest. Wearing costumes typical of the period, they hold each other by the hand. They are still at a safe distance from the wood. But although it is the middle of the day, and there are no dark shadows to pose an immediate threat, it is hard to say what the forest might conceal. The path ahead disappears among the trees – do they dare to follow it? The children are the link between the viewer and the mystical forest, while at the same time serving an important compositional function in the painting.
In 1903 Dr. Max Linde asked Munch to decorate the children’s room at his family villa in Lübeck, Germany. The proposals that Munch presented in December 1904 were, however, not well received. The doctor found the motifs with their kissing and dancing couples a touch too “adult” to grace a children’s room. One exception may well have been The Fairytale Forest, although not even this was purchased by Linde. Thus the paintings for the “Linde Frieze” ended up in different places. Munch had worked on the material for The Fairytale Forest for some years. He took the theme further in the so-called “Freia Frieze”, which was commissioned by Johan Throne Holst, director of the Freia chocolate factory for the company’s 25th anniversary in 1923.
The Fairytale Forest was bequeathed to the museum by Alfred Larsen in 1950.
- Edvard Munch bestandskatalog
In the years 1901 to 1904, Munch painted several pictures featuring children and adolescents, one of which was Enchanted Forest. Munch's interest in children finds expression in group portraits, depictions of children at play, and in more independent figure compositions. Most of these pictures were produced during the artist's summer sojourns at Åsgårdstrand. In Enchanted Forest, the childhood theme is underscored by the difference in size between the figures and the landscape, and by the fact that the children are holding hands. They stand hesitantly on a track that curves in towards the outer edge of a dark, looming forest. The children are on the threshold of something that seems both alluring and alarming.
Munch painted two other pictures with a similar design, Barn i skogen (Children in the Forest) (1901-1902, Woll M 492) and To barn på vei til eventyrskogen (Two Children on Their Way to the Enchanted Forest) (1901-1902, Woll M 494). In the latter, the section of landscape and the track leading into the forest resemble those of Enchanted Forest, but there are only two children. In Barn i skogen, the children are seen from a greater distance and appear small against the trees and the dense, dark forest. Enchanted Forest combines elements from these two pictures but differs in its use of colours that are paler and less saturated. Enchanted Forest is executed with a diluted binder so that much of the paint has been absorbed by the canvas. This creates an effect of transparency and dryness reminiscent of fresco painting.
The date of the painting has been a matter of debate, varying from 1897 to 1903. When it entered the museum's collection as a bequest from the wholesaler Alfred Larsen in 1951, its date was recorded as "ca. 1903". Since then, it has been established with reasonable certainty that the picture was exhibited at Blomqvist in the autumn of 1902. The painting can be associated with the Blomqvist exhibition based on the following humourous account in the satirical magazine Tyrihans (no. 42, 1902): "We stopped in front of 'Children Going to the Woods'. 'Superb!' says Hansen. 'Look at the fresh yellow forest and the colourful joy of the children!'" (Woll 2008 B. 2, 536). Moreover, it is known that when the Munch Museum's Barn i skogen (Woll M 492) was shown at the Sonderbund exhibition in 1912, it was dated to 1901. And finally, either that or Enchanted Forest was exhibited in Paris in February 1903, further suggesting a dating of 1902 or earlier (Woll 2008, 534).
Vibeke Waallann Hansen The text was first published in Edvard Munch in the National Museum. A comprehensive overview (Oslo: National Museum, 2022).
- Creation date:
- 1901 eller 1902
- Other titles:
- Eventyrskogen (NOR)
- Object type:
- Painting
- Materials and techniques:
- Olje på lerret
- Material:
- Canvas
- Dimensions:
- Height: 79 cm
- Width: 106.5 cm
- Keywords:
- Visual art
- Classification:
- 532 - Bildende kunst
- Motif - type:
- Landscape
- Inventory no.:
- NG.M.02237
- Cataloguing level:
- Single object
- Inscriptions:
- Primary, Signature, nede høyre: Edv. Munch
- Acquisition:
- Bequeathed by Alfred Larsen 1950, accessioned 1951
- Provenance:
- [40] Previous owner, Alfred Larsen
- Owner and collection:
- Nasjonalmuseet for kunst, arkitektur og design, The Fine Art Collections
- Photo:
- Børre Høstland/Lathion, Jacques
- Det magiske nord. Finsk og norsk kunst rundt 1900 (Hovedtittel/ anvendt/ Norsk)Helsinki, Finland(2015)Landschaft als Kosmos der Seele. Malerei des nordischen Symbolismus bis Munch 1880–1910Köln, Tyskland(1998)Edvard Munch. Malerier fra eventyrskoven samt raderinger, litografier og tegningerNykøbing, Danmark(1979)Edvard Munch. Malerier fra eventyrskoven samt raderinger, litografier og tegningerKøbenhavn, Danmark(1979)
- Hansen, Vibeke Waallann, et al. Edvard Munch i Nasjonalmuseet: en samlet oversikt. Redigert av Ustvedt, Øystein, et al. Oslo: Nasjonalmuseet, 2022. kat.nr. 43.
- Ustvedt, Øystein. Munch: En introduksjon til bildene og livet. Oslo: Stenersens forlag, 2018. 123–4.
- Huusko, Timo, et al. Det magiske nord: finsk og norsk kunst omkring 1900. Oslo: Nasjonalmuseet, 2015. 79, 154, 232; kat.nr. 69.
- Flaatten, Hans-Martin Frydenberg. «Byen, fjorden og landskapet. Edvard Munchs søken etter stedets sjel», i «Edvard Munch 1863-1944», utstillingskatalog, 2013. 124, 159.
- Rognerud, Hilde M. J. Munch! — Nietzsche, Thiel och Nordens störste konstnär. Utstillingskatalog. Stockholm: Thielska galleriet, 2013. 48.
- Blegvad, Maria Kappel. «Edvard Munch - Kunstneriske og litterære inspirationskilder / Edvard Munch - artistic and literary inspirations», i «Edvard Munch. Angst = Anxiety», utstillingskatalog, 2012. 176.
- Sørensen, Jens Erik. «Eventyrskogen», i «Edvard Munch. Angst = Anxiety», utstillingskatalog, 2012. 189.
- Pettersen, Petra. «Munch. Un ‘outsider’ del suo tempo», i «Munch e lo spirito del Nord. Scandinavia nel secondo ottocento», utstillingskatalog, 2010. 111.
- Woll, Gerd. Edvard Munch: Samlede malerier: B. 2: 1898-1908. Oslo: Cappelen Damm, 2008. 534; kat.nr. 495.
- Nasjonalgalleriet, red. Norske malerier. Katalog. Oslo, 1992. 343.
- Eggum, Arne. «Edvard Munchs fargekunst og fauvismen», i «Munch og Frankrike», utstillingskatalog, 1991. 288.
- Eggum, Arne, et al. Edvard Munch. Malerier fra eventyrskoven. Samt raderinger, litografier, træsnit. Utstillingskatalog. København: Kastrupgårdsamlingen, 1979.
- Nasjonalgalleriet, red. Katalog over norsk malerkunst: med 158 illustrasjoner. Oslo, 1968. kat.nr. 1296.
- Nasjonalgalleriet, red. Edvard Munch. Utstillingskatalog. Oslo, 1927. kat.nr. 108.
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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
Bathing ManEdvard Munch(1918)
Flowery Meadow at VeierlandEdvard Munch(1887)
White NightEdvard MunchPåbegynt 1900, avsluttet 1901
Rue LafayetteEdvard Munch1891
Naked Woman in Front of a HouseEdvard Munch1883 eller 1884
Self-PortraitEdvard Munch1905
