‘Edvard Munch: Technically Speaking’ Balances Technique and Enjoyment at Harvard Art Museums

Walking from the bright, open, sun-lit spaces of the main Harvard Art Museums galleries into the dark emerald walls and rich, oak-wood floors of the “Edvard Munch: Technically Speaking” exhibition, one is immersed in the Norwegian artist’s work and process. The browns and greens of the gallery room encourage quiet contemplation as viewers traverse through the space.

After receiving a number of works from the collection of Philip A. and Lynn G. Straus and sourcing loans from the Munchmuseet in Oslo, “Technically Speaking” at the Harvard Art Museums currently holds one of the largest collections of Munch’s works in the United States. Viewers are invited to explore the fruits of the curatorial and restorative teams’ research, featuring new insights into Munch’s artistic experimentation.

Edvard Munch was a 19th and early 20th-century painter and print artist, best known for his striking expressionist art. His works are characterized by bold colors, exaggerated linework, and emotional subject matter. Most famously, Munch painted “The Scream,” a piece that has achieved worldwide recognition.

Rather than being organized by time period, “Technically Speaking” is instead arranged by subject.

“We don’t see his practice as linear, and we didn’t want the show to feel linear either,” said Lynette Roth, the Curator of the Busch-Reisinger Museum.

As the viewer peruses Munch’s works, they see the same subject repeated again and again, each series a mini-timeline through which one can observe Munch’s artistic and personal development. Munch’s almost compulsive nature is highlighted by these timelines, featuring repeated depictions, as Munch returmed to the same scenes multiple times.

Munch switches back and forth between painting and printing in the exhibit, showing his experimentation. The gallery opens with five different versions of the same image — a woman and a man looking out over a cliff — made from the same woodblock. Changes carved into the woodblock itself in between printing and the different colors used during the printing process create a set of extremely similar pieces as an introduction to Munch and his process.

As the name suggests, the exhibition is focused on the technical aspects of Munch’s works and the processes involved in creating them. Several of his tools accompany his finished works in the exhibition. A large lithographic stone used to print his piece “Death in the Sickroom” and several woodcuts are displayed next to their final forms.

Despite intensive research into Munch’s prints and the processes carried out to create them, actually seeing the tools offers a new perspective on Munch and his process for the people behind the exhibit.

“I just started to really understand these complicated techniques,” said Elizabeth Rudy, Curator of Prints at Harvard Art Museums.

Every feature of Munch’s art and his artistic choices was considered for the exhibit including the medium — painting or print — the types of paper used, and the varying color schemes. The amount of detail and choices to examine while perusing through Munch’s works can seem overwhelming, but the curatorial team aimed to provide viewers with the important context and technical information needed to understand the nuanced differences between the works. Accessibility was on the forefront of their minds when curating the exhibit.

“We really tried to give visitors all the tools they need to find their way through the puzzle,” Rudy said.

Roth says that analyzing the art begins with “close-looking” and utilizing the resources provided by the exhibit. The captions and QR codes next to each piece explain the artistic methodology behind Munch’s work.

In several spots around the room, pamphlets rest in baskets mounted on the wall. On one side, these pamphlets provide a glossary of technical terms used in the texts throughout the exhibit. Peter Murphy, Curatorial Fellow in the Busch-Reisinger Museum and a member of the curatorial team for the exhibit, says the team provides these definitions in an attempt to break down the language in “a digestible manner.”

Although there is so much to explore in the exhibit, Murphy wants viewers to know that it is okay to just enjoy the art, too.

“It doesn’t have to be a pure investigation into things. First, look, and enjoy or however you respond. Then, you can also take the time to go into it, because there is a lot that is visually delightful to look at,” he said.

“Edvard Munch: Technically Speaking” offers a chance to learn about Munch’s innovation in artmaking and engage with his works in a new way. The exhibit is on view at the Harvard Art Museums through July 27.