Brief Report

This little picture on wood was painted en plein air right on the waterline of the rocky beach. Munch spent the summers of 1889 and 1890 in Asgardstrand, returning to France after these sojourns in order to continue his studies. Here the artist used a spruce panel, deviating by just a few millimetres from the standard P5 size. There is no evidence to date that spruce panels cut to standard sizes were ever commercially available, and the presence of saw-marks on the edges of this one suggests rather that it was cut from a board destined originally for another purpose. Munch may have taken his lead from the format which he had got to know in Paris, cutting the floor of a drawer or something similar to meet his requirements. The panel is unprimed, and the lively wet-in-wet application of the paints suggests a study. Munch worked without an underdrawing using predominantly horizontal brushstrokes from left to right, leaving the wood visible in many places. The painting is clearly the product of a single working session.

Edvard Munch
Asgårdstrand, 1888/90, oil on spruce panel, 24.7 x 35.2 cm, WRM Dep. FC 718

Edvard Munch

born on 12 December 1863 in Løten, Hedmark, Norway,
died on 23 January 1944 on Ekely near Oslo

Brief report with complete data as downloadable pdf-file

Further illustrations:

Fig. 02

Verso


Fig. 03

Raking light


Fig. 04

UV fluorescence


Fig. 05

Detail, signature


Fig. 06

Signature, microscopic photograph (M = 1 mm)


Fig. 07

Raking light, detail of paint-layer


Fig. 08

Raking light, detail of paint-layer


Fig. 09

Paint-layer, microscopic photograph (M = 1 mm)


Fig. 10

Detail of paint-layer


Fig. 11

Detail of paint-layer


Fig. 12

Detail, drops of varnish verso