Munch's painting occupies a unique place in artistic modernity, with its roots in the 19th century and its full impact on the following one. His entire output, from the 1880s until his death, was indeed driven by a worldview marked by a powerful symbolist dimension. Rather than contrasting fin-de-siècle symbolism with an expressionism that would anchor Munch in the modern scene, the catalogue, edited by Claire Bernardi, offers a comprehensive reading of his work, highlighting its great coherence.
The notion of cycle is therefore essential for understanding his painting. Fascinated by the concept of metabolism, Munch frequently expresses the idea that humanity and nature are inexorably united in the cycle of life, death, and rebirth. It also contributes to the very construction of his paintings, and allows us to uncover a singular creative process, which leads him to create numerous variations of the same motif. He multiplies versions of the same subject, moving seamlessly from one medium to another. We are therefore invited to review as a whole a work that is both fundamentally coherent, even obsessive, and at the same time constantly renewed in the truest sense of the word.