The Modern Life of the Soul.

It was visit number two for me today to Moma since I got my membership for Xmas. I suddenly got in a mood to go and look at some art, random, and decided I would spend the afternoon back in the Edward Munch Special Exhibit because I didn't feel like got enough time with it the first go around.

When I viewed this painter's amazing work the first time, I went in with virtually no idea what he was about, what his style was or even really what time period he worked during. I knew "The Scream" but mainly from pop-culture parodies, not associated with Munch himself. What is startling about the work of this painter is the vastness of emotion that he encompasses. Throughout the exhibit the viewer is reminded about biographical anecdotes about the painter. He is said to have been a troubled man who struggled with the idea of the human soul and its ultimate decay. He has a whole order to the life cycle and so much of that is visible in his work. Some of the most stunning painting are in the form of self portraits where in each one the painter almost looks like a different person depending on the tone and mood of the time.

When I first went, I was reminded a lot of Monet and Seurat, both artists from simlilar time periods who I admire, but Munch takes aspects of both of them and brings to them such different emotion. Many of his paintings exist with various figures, sometimes a mix between painting and sketching, and often overwhelmingly undefined. There are many people who's faces are almost blurs, or just eyes with a sort of aura around them. However, even through the lack of phsyical definition so much is rendered with the use of color, posture, and placement. Some of his use of tension in the foreground and the ideas of desire, desolation, desperation and death are breathtaking. Ah the "D's".

My favorite of his works both times going through the exhibit were his etchings, woodcuts, and sketches. Stripped down from the grandness and color of his bigger works, you are left with each painting being a portrait of the soul of this incredible painter.

The picture is one of my favorites of his; a second version of his Madonna. Go to MOMA before May 9th to see this!