Edvard Munch

Oslo, Kunstnerforbundet, Munchbilder i privat eie (Munchbilder in Privatbesitz), 1958, no. 36
Bern, Kunstmuseum, Edvard Munch, 1958, no. 83
Kiel, Kunsthalle zu Kiel, Edvard Munch. Gemälde und Zeichnungen aus einer norwegischen Privatsammlung, 1979, no. 18, illustrated in the catalogue

Following his mental breakdown in 1908, Munch spent several months in Dr Jacobsen’s clinic in Copenhagen. His subsequent recovery set off a distinguishable change in his art: his paintings of the following period are characterised by the use of a brighter palette and concentration on lighter subject matters. Munch maintained an emotional expressiveness in the canvases of this period similar to that of his darker works, but they demonstrate a brighter atmosphere that is rare in any other period of Munch’s art. Men Bathing exemplifies the ‘vitalism’ that influenced his work at the time: after his recovery from a breakdown, Munch discovered a new interest in the corporeal, and this liberation from the emotional and the spiritual resulted in a number of paintings depicting nude figures swimming or sunbathing.

The scene of the present work is set at the rocky beaches of Hvitsten, a village on the Kristiania Fjord, where Munch had spent his childhood. In depicting people swimming and sunbathing along the beach, he enjoyed the departure from the dark and rugged landscape surrounding Kragerø, where he also lived at this time. Though he would continue to paint monumental winter landscapes, Munch returned repeatedly to the vibrant backdrop of Hvitsten to broaden his lighter palette while still maintaining the depth of his Expressionist style. In Men Bathing, the light descends from the upper left corner to envelop this group of bathers, bringing them into a harmony with the surrounding environment. Far from the starkness of his winter landscapes, this scene conveys the vivid light and rich colours that Munch found on the beaches of Hvitsten. 

Discussing Munch’s paintings of Hvitsten, Arne Eggum wrote: ‘Swimming in the sea and sunbathing provide one of the main themes from Hvitsten. On the sun-drenched rocks [...] below the dwelling-house Munch painted a series of pictures, some of naked men, others of naked women, in the brilliant sunlight. The paintings from Hvitsten become lighter in their expression, the palette freer, while the light fuses scenery and people together to form a single entity’ (A. Eggum, Edvard Munch, New York, 1983, pp. 248-249).