1896, Edvard Munch, Evening. Melancholy I -- Munch Museum (Oslo)
From the museum label:
Edvard Munch believed that he and his siblings had inherited their father's melancholy and nervous nature. In Munch's art, women and men experience melancholy, which we might now call depression or low mood, in different ways. Melancholic (and 'hysteric') women are often shown in institutions, as figures of pity and sympathy. Melancholic men, on the other hand, often appear in contemplative states of mind associated with artistic genius.
This gender divide reflected and reinforced prejudices in wider society. People who didn't conform could be sent to an asylum and mistreated. Others, however, spoke of finding refuge in asylums. Laura Munch, the artist's sister, was in and out of psychiatric institutions for much of her adult life.
Edvard Munch met several psychiatrists in Paris during the 1890s. Some of them collected art made by their patients. They gave Munch access to hospitals, allowing him to develop an artistic language of mental distress. He showed people's emotional suffering with both curiosity and empathy.
1896, Edvard Munch, Evening. Melancholy I -- Munch Museum (Oslo)
From the museum label:
Edvard Munch believed that he and his siblings had inherited their father's melancholy and nervous nature. In Munch's art, women and men experience melancholy, which we might now call depression or low mood, in different ways. Melancholic (and 'hysteric') women are often shown in institutions, as figures of pity and sympathy. Melancholic men, on the other hand, often appear in contemplative states of mind associated with artistic genius.
This gender divide reflected and reinforced prejudices in wider society. People who didn't conform could be sent to an asylum and mistreated. Others, however, spoke of finding refuge in asylums. Laura Munch, the artist's sister, was in and out of psychiatric institutions for much of her adult life.
Edvard Munch met several psychiatrists in Paris during the 1890s. Some of them collected art made by their patients. They gave Munch access to hospitals, allowing him to develop an artistic language of mental distress. He showed people's emotional suffering with both curiosity and empathy.