Born: December 12, 1863 – Loten, Norway

Died: January 23, 1944 – Oslo, Norway

Edvard Munch was a prolific yet perpetually troubled artist preoccupied with matters of human mortality such as chronic illness, sexual liberation, and religious aspiration. He expressed these obsessions through works of intense color, semi-abstraction, and mysterious subject matter. Following the great triumph of French Impressionism, Munch took up the more graphic, symbolist sensibility of the influential Paul Gauguin, and in turn became one of the most controversial and eventually renowned artists among a new generation of continental Expressionist and  Symbolist painters.

Munch came of age in the first decade of the 20^th century, during the peak of the Art Nouveau movement and its characteristic focus on all things organic, evolutionary, and mysteriously instinctual. In keeping with these motifs, but moving decidedly away from their decorative applications, Munch came to treat the visible as though it were a window into a not fully formed, if not fundamentally disturbing, human psychology. (courtesy of theartstory.org)

[“I do not believe in the art which is not the compulsive result of man’s urge to open his heart.” Edvard Munch ] 

Our speaker:

Michael Hecht will be presenting a personal dialogue on the artist Edvard Munch to include his peers, and cultural triggers for his work.

An artist himself,  Michael is known for what he calls “knife-drawings,” utilizing an exacto-knife as a pencil. He has exhibited in New York, Boston, Colorado, and California. He has worked with the Cleo Robinson Dance Company, the David Taylor Dance Company, and was featured on the Discovery channel’s program “Start to Finish.” He also has curated two exhibits at the Wisconsin Veterans Museum in Madison. He spreads his mission, “ART FOR ALL” to communities in Wisconsin. Because of  the lively atmosphere he creates, his programs have brought an enthusiastic following.  Michael constantly proves that learning at any age can be fun.

“Girls on a Bridge” 1900