"The sick girl"
(click on the picture for larger image)
The memories of watching his mother’s
and sister’s death beds inspired Edvard Munch to some of his
foremost works, as for example “The sick girl” (“Den
syke pike”), which he created in many versions. Laura’s
mental illness gave rise to paintings as well.
In a review in 1897 the Swedish artist Ivan
Aguéli writes about the version of Munch’s painting
“The sick girl”, which belongs to Göteborg Museum
of Art: “He synthesizes a drama from real life with such a
deep emotion that you can feel the presence of death itself in its
ghostly shape, though hidden, like a third actor.”
 “The
sick girl”, however, caused a scandal when it was showed for
the first time in 1886 at the autumn exhibition in Kristiania, Norway.
It was not the motive but the artist’s technique that provoked
the viewers. The audience laughed and a critic was shocked because
he thought the picture looked unfinished. Munch started his career
in the spirit of that time, which implied a realistic painting.
But when creating “The sick girl” he felt he had to invent
a new technique in order to attain his goal – to depict his
own feelings towards his sister’s death in a universal way.
“The sick girl” was painted in several layers that were
partly scraped and scratched away. The perspective is merely suggested
and the appearance of the furniture is unimportant. Through this
technique the artist makes a painting where the surface is of great
significance and the different parts of the motive merge into a
unity. The result is a picture with a strong emotional expression.
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