The word that was used to describe the works of the creative artists in the 19th century was avant garde. Immediately before this time, paintings were fairly straight forward and realistic, lacking the use of symbols, but the avant-garde artists, created works which were meant to be interpreted by the viewer. These pieces of art were not simply landscape paintings or portraits, but had symbolic meaning and structure. "As the great conflagration of 20th century expressionism burst into flame, the spark that set fire to that movement called 'primitivism' was the 19th century discovery of the primitive arts of the South sea islanders and the wood carvings of native African tribes," (Flemn, 1963: 712). This expressionist movement in art brought on a new wave of artists, including Edvard Munch.
Edvard Munch was born on December 12, 1863, in Loten, Norway. He grew up in Norway's capital, Oslo, then called Christiania. His father, Christian Munch - brother of the well-known historian P.A. Munch - was a deeply religious military doctor earning a modest income. His wife, who was 20 years his junior, died of tuberculosis when Munch was only five years old, and Munch older sister, Sophie, died of the disease at the age of 15. Munch himself was often ill. A younger sister was diagnosed with mental illness at an early age. Of the five brothers and sisters only one, Andreas, ever married, only to die a few months after the wedding. Though his childhood home was culturally stimulating, in his art, Munch turned again and again to the memory of illness, death and grief.
After a year at Technical School, Munch became dedicated to art. He studied the old masters, attended courses in the painting of nudes at the Royal School of Drawing and was instructed for a time by Norway's leading artist, Christian Krohg. His early works were influenced by French-inspired Realism, and his great talent was soon discovered.
In 1885 Munch went on a short stud...