#expressionism

“By painting colours and lines and forms seen in a quickened mood I was seeking to make this mood vibrate as a phonograph does. In: Diary Saint Cloud, 1898; Munch, as quoted in Edvard Much”

“Nothing ceases to exist”

“Realism's 'truth' as embodied in painting and literature now solely consists of things capable of being seen by the eye or heard by the ear. Realism is concerned only with the external shell of nature. People content with the discoveries they have made ignore the fact that there are other things to be discovered, even broader avenues to be explored. They have found bacteria, but not what they consist of. [quote of 1892) OKK 1760 (Nice, January 1892); as quoted in Edvard Much”

“I was walking along a path with two friends”

“When seen as a whole, art derives from a person's desire to communicate himself to another. I do not believe in an art which is not forced into existence by a human being’s desire to open his heart. All art, literature, and music must be born in your heart’s blood. Art is your heart’s blood. Manuscript (1891); as quoted in Edvard Munch and the Physiology of Symbolism (2002) by Shelley Wood Cordulack”

“Quotes from his text: 'Saint Cloud Manifesto', Munch (1889): as quoted in Edvard Much”

“I thought I should make something”

“No longer shall I paint interiors with men reading and women knitting. I will paint living people who breathe and feel and suffer and love. Quote from Munch's text (1889) 'Impressions from a ballroom, New Year's Eve in St. Cloud'”

“Life here [in Paris, 1885] is quite different. You hardly ever see a dog on a lead; you come across little wagons being pulled by dogs that are often so small that you can't imagine how on earth they manage to shift such enormous weights. You see shepherdesses in the middle of the street herding goats and sometimes playing on their flutes. I think I'll go to the Louvre and the Salon today. Quote in Munch's letter (1885); as cited in Edvard Munchs Brev, Familien , Oslo: Tanum, 1949, p. 57”

“I am at work on a girl . It is quite simple a girl getting up on the edge of her bed and pulling on her stockings. The bed is whitish, and in addition there are white sheets, a white nightdress, a bedside table with a white cover, white curtains and a blue wall. [as model for his painting 'Morning', 1884] Quote in Munch's letter to Olav Paulsen , September 1884; as cited in Edvard Much”