Painting

Moonlight

Artist: Edvard Munch
Creation date: 1895

On display: Room 060 The Collection Exhibition - Edvard Munch

About

This painting shows one of Munch’s most simplified depictions of the Norwegian coastal landscape in the light of a summer night. Thematically it is related to The Voice, which Munch had painted earlier, in that case with a female figure in the central foreground. Moonlight captures a mood of nature, without human presence. The first thing to catch our attention is the unusual pillar of moonlight, a motif that occurs in several of Munch’s pictures. The next is the undulating coastline, which forms a horizontal counterpoint to the strict verticality of the trees. The colours are subdued, but there are clear contrasts between the dark forest floor, the white shore and the intense blue of the water. Details are simplified and subordinated to the overall scheme, but without compromising the landscape’s characteristic features and recognisability. Instead of depicting an action, the picture expresses a certain mood. At the same time there is a formal theme in the pillar of moonlight, the strict verticality of the trees, the gentle curves of the shoreline, and the water as a symbol of the masculine and the feminine.

The motif probably derived from the area around Åsgårdstrand, where Munch stayed this summer. It was a place to which he was very attached. The sea and the landscape both attracted and inspired him, and elements of nature in the region appear in a range of pictures from the 1890s. Running through these images, Munch wrote, “twists the flowing shoreline, beyond lies the sea, which is always in motion, and beneath the canopy of trees varied life unfolds with its joys and cares.”

The painting was a bequest from Charlotte and Christian Mustad in 1959. It was incorporated in the collection in 1970.

Edvard Munch bestandskatalog
The forest fringe, the curving shoreline, the stylised tree trunks, the moon and the pillar of moonlight. These are elements that reoccur in many of Munch's pictures. Frequently he uses this landscape as a setting for various human activities, but here it assumes the main role alone. There are no figures present.

As a central genre throughout his career, landscape painting played an important part in Munch's art. He became attached to specific places and liked to paint landscapes he knew well. His early landscapes depict locations on the outskirts of Kristiania (Oslo). He painted the scenery of Åsgårdstrand, along the coast of the Kristianiafjord, in the south of France, and in the vicinity of Kragerø, Hvitsten, Moss, and Ekely.

The location in Moonlight is Åsgårdstrand, where Munch found many of his themes. This coastal landscape provides the setting for a number of pictures, including Melancholy(The National Museum, NG.M.02813) and The Dance of Life (The National Museum, NG.M 00941). Here we see it distilled and stylised. The horizontal and vertical dimensions are rendered palpable by the accentuation of the upright tree trunks that transect the shoreline and the horizon. The lines bind the painting together, justifying Sigbjørn Obsfelder's observation that Munch saw a "certain architecture" in nature (Obstfelder 1896, 19).

The painting is particularly rich in shades of blue, ranging from the pastel blue of the sea to the violet of the horizon. Obstfelder praised Munch's use of colour early his career: "Above all else, he is a poet of colour. He feels colours, and feels in colours. He doesn't merely see them" (Obstfelder 1896, 17).

Moonlight stands as an example of romantic landscape painting. In a neoromantic mood, Munch captures the characteristic luminosity of a Nordic summer night. The landscape is abstracted and presented in monumental form. For the American art historian Robert Rosenblum, Munch's landscape painting extends the legacy of Caspar David Friedrich and J.C. Dahl (Rosenblum 1975, 118). Munch uses landscapes to convey human emotions and yearnings.

The moonlight theme is recurrent in his art. During his early stay in the south of France he explored its effects in works such as Moonlight by the Mediterranean (The National Museum, NG.M. 00842). Disregarding the lack of a female figure and boat(s) on the fjord, Moonlight compares closely with Sommernattsdrøm. Stemmen(Summer Night's Dream. The Voice), 1893 (Woll 2008, M 319) and Sommernatt. Stemmen (Summer Night. The Voice), 1896 (Woll 2008, M 394).

Moonlight came into the museum's possession in 1970 as a bequest from Charlotte and Christian Mustad. The painting was first exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Indépendants in Paris in 1897. It was probably also included in Munch's exhibition in the Dioramalokalet in Kristiania the same year (Woll 2008, 371). The picture has similarities with Strandbredd i Åsgårdstrand (Beach in Åsgårdstrand) (Woll 2008, M 380). Munch's sketchbook of 1895 contains a number of sketches of the shoreline that correspond with these paintings (The Munch Museum, MM.T.00131--26 verso). At the large retrospective at the National Gallery in 1927, the painting was shown for the first time with a place name in the title: Måneskinn. Aasgaardstrand 1895 (Moonlight. Åsgårdstrand 1895). The precise location is probably Fjugstadskogen just north of Åsgårdstrand (Flaatten 2013, 95).

Wenche Volle

The text was first published in Edvard Munch in the National Museum. A comprehensive overview (Oslo: National Museum, 2022).
Creation date:
1895
Other titles:
Måneskinn (NOR)
Chiaro di luna (ITA)
Object type:
Painting
Materials and techniques:
Olje på lerret
Material:
Canvas
Dimensions:
Height: 93 cm
Width: 110 cm
Keywords:
Visual art
Classification:
532 - Bildende kunst
Motif - type:
Landscape
Motif - location:
Åsgårdstrand
Inventory no.:
NG.M.02815
Cataloguing level:
Single object
Inscriptions:
Primary, Inscription, nede venstre: E Munch 95
Acquisition:
Bequeathed by Charlotte and Christian Mustad 1959, accessioned 1970
Provenance:
[40] Previous owner, Charlotte Mustad
[40] Previous owner, Christian Nicolai Mustad
Owner and collection:
Nasjonalmuseet for kunst, arkitektur og design, The Fine Art Collections
Photo:
Børre Høstland/Lathion, Jacques/Høstland, Børre
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Moonrise. Marlene Dumas & Edvard MunchOslo(2018–2019)
Det magiske nord. Finsk og norsk kunst rundt 1900Oslo(2015)
Det magiske nord. Finsk og norsk kunst rundt 1900 (Hovedtittel/ anvendt/ Norsk)Helsinki, Finland(2015)
The Magic North. Finnish and Norwegian Art around 1900Helsinki, Finland(2015)
Munch 150Oslo(2013)
The Ecstasy of Colour - Munch, Matisse and the ExpressionistsEssen, Tyskland(2012–2013)
Livets dans. Samlingen fra antikken til 1950Oslo(2011–2019)
Munch e lo spirito del Nord. Scandinavia nel secondo OttocentoItalia(2010–2011)
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ExhibitionKøbenhavn, Danmark(2007–2008)
Naturens speil. Nordisk landskapsmaleri 1840-1910Oslo(2007)
Naturens spegel. Nordiskt landskapsmåleri 1840-1910Helsinki, Finland(2006)
Naturens spegel. Nordiskt landskapsmåleri 1840-1910Stockholm, Sverige(2006–2007)
Munch 1863-1944Roma, Italia(2005)
Edvard Munchs «Mermaid»Philadelphia, USA(2005)
Edvard Munch. The Frieze of LifeMelbourne, Australia(2004–2005)
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Edvard MunchTicino, Sveits(1998)
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Tradisjon og fornyelse. Norge rundt århundreskiftetOslo(1994–1995)
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Edvard Munch. The Frieze of LifeJapan(1993)
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Norge i bilder - Natur og naturfølelse i norsk malerkunst gjennom 175 årBærum(1989)
Munch 1863-1944Barcelona, Spania(1987)
Scandinavian Art. 19 artists from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden: seeing the silence and hearing the screamJapan(1987)
MunchRoma, Italia(1986)
MunchMilano, Italia(1985–1986)
Edvard MunchDresden, Tyskland(1983–1984)
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Origini dell'Astrattismo - Verso altri orizzonti del realeMilano, Italia(1979–1980)
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Edvard MunchOslo(1927)
Edvard Munch - Gemälde und GraphikMannheim, Tyskland(1926–1927)
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