Edvard Munch

Frankfurt-am-Main, Stadtische Kunstinstitut, Vom Abbild zum Sinnbild. Ausstellung von Meisterwerken moderner Malerei im Städelschen Kunstinstitut, 1931, no. 172 (titled Die drei Lebensalter)
Oslo, Kunstnernes Hus, Edvard Munch. Utsetilling malerier, akvareller, tegninger, grafikk, 1951, no. 75
Zurich, Kunsthaus, Munch, 1952, no. 33
Bern, Kunstmuseum, Edvard Munch, 1958, no. 86
Vienna, Akademie der bildenden Künste, Edvard Munch, 1959, no. 61
Kiel, Kunsthalle zu Kiel, Edvard Munch. Gemälde und Zeichnungen aus einer norwegischen Privatsammlung, 1979, no. 7, illustrated in the catalogue

Generations explores the stages of man, a key theme in Munch’s art, famously depicted in his Frieze of Life. As in his individual portraits, the artist focused on the psychological depth of his sitters, adding here the group dynamics of a family portrait.

Based on his observations of the local population and Norwegian folklore, Munch depicts three generations through the prism of psychological study. Generations is dominated by two men representing succeeding generations, with the children – the third generation – playing in the background. As in his celebrated print Woman in Three Stages, Munch is interested more in the ageing process of an archetypical figure than in representing a specific family. Norwegian folklore and the primal man are suggested in his study for the figure on the left, titled Der Urmensch (fig. 1), as well as in the figures’ setting. As Arne Eggum has observed: ‘a kind of dynamic is created between the individual and the space around him, which enhances the impression of the energy that the figure radiates’ (A. Eggum, Edvard Munch, New York, 1983, p. 196).

In 1904, the year he painted Generations, Munch became a member of the Berlin Secession, joined by artists such as Beckmann, Kandinsky and Nolde. Frederick Deknatel described the new-found freedom Munch discovered within this movement: ‘A new, freer manner of painting appeared in Munch’s works of 1904. The flat tones are replaced by color applied in varied brush strokes in a number of tones, although not in the high-keyed palette of Impressionism’ (F. B. Deknatel, Edvard Munch, New York, 1950, p. 42). The present work evinces Munch’s singular use of colour, employed in such a way as to highlight its emotional and expressive potential. The undulating lines of the men’s hair and facial features, rendered in a rich variety of hues, stand in contrast with the deep colouration of their dress and backdrop. The viewer’s attention is thus channelled towards their rich physiognomies, reinforced by the contrast between the younger man’s haunting stare and the closed eyes of his elder at the right.

Fig. 1, Edvard Munch, Der Urmensch, 1905, oil on canvas, Munch-museet, Oslo