Edvard Munch
1894-96
Oil paint on canvas
As with Summer Night (displayed nearby), Edvard Munch paints a figure on the shore at Åsgårdstrand. This time, he depicts his friend the writer Jappe Nilssen consumed by melancholy following a failed love affair. Melancholic feeling imbues every aspect of the painting, from the brooding figure to the mournful colours and drawn-out brushstrokes. The only bright spot is the woman in white – perhaps the source of Nilssen’s suffering – conversing with a man on the jetty in the distance.
This work is the most fully realised of several versions of Melancholy painted between 1891 and 1896. It epitomises the new style of painting Munch developed to convey heightened emotions. He included it in the series of works exploring human experience that he called ‘The Frieze of Life.’