Art Insights — Spring Day On Karl Johan Street by Edvard Munch

Some of you might not know the name of Edvard Munch, but most of you have definitely seen his iconic work — The Scream. It is a deeply emotional and symbolic depiction of some of the darkest emotions a human being can feel. Prior to this painting, Munch created many landscape paintings, having the scenes of his native Norway as the main motif. 

Like many well-known artists of his era, Munch was visiting some of the biggest cities in Europe and found himself in the mix of fellow artists from France, Germany, and Sweden. In Spring Day On Karl Johan Street, you can see the influence of the French painters, specifically, the Impressionism movement adepts.

Spring Day On Karl Johan Street (1891) By Edvard Munch. Oil on canvas, 80 cm x 100 cm. Source: edvardmunch.org

Karl Johan Street was the main street of Norway’s capital — Oslo, during the Munch’s days. The local population loved to take a walk through this street on the sunny days of spring and summer. This street was always busy during these periods, uniting the playful and positive moods of the upper and middle-class citizens of Oslo. Munch himself was not always too cheerful, but this painting clearly demonstrates a good vibe.

The main character of this painting is the Rückenfigur — the lady with the red umbrella that stands with her back to the viewer’s eye. While her figure lacks much detail, she stands out in the variety of the smaller figures. Rarely any of those are recognizable, overall creating a colorful mass.

To make this Rückenfigur stand out, Munch placed her in the middle of the composition, using bright colors to paint her umbrella and dress. Some of the other ladies with umbrellas almost got mixed together with the colors of the street. You can also note that the Norwegian painter used some of the techniques, favored by the Impressionists. The brushwork was applied with some thin, relatively precise brush strokes, as well as in the manner of pointillism.

An example of painting done in a Pointillism technique that was developed in 1886 by the French Impressionists. The Seine at La Grande Jatte (1888) by Georges Seurat. Oil on canvas, 65 cm x 82 cm. Source: Wikipedia Commons.

French Impressionists, such as Georges Seurat, Paul Gaugin, and Camille Pissarro similarly created some of their artworks. Since Munch did spend some time in Paris, finding himself in the Impressionist circles, he adopted some of these techniques that gained plenty of criticism at the time.

While most of his works resembled the Expressionism movement, emphasizing strong displays of emotion, Spring Day On Karl Johan Street looks like the light at the end of a tunnel. Munch’s life had some similarities with Vincent van Gogh’s. It was often filled with dark moments of misery, anger, and pain. The Norwegian painter suffered from anxiety and depression. It led him to heavy drinking and attempts to break away from all the internal problems that haunted his mind. Logically, all these emotional outbursts came to find their way out through his brush strokes.

This painting might lack the power of expression as many of his other works, but it stands out in Munch’s diverse portfolio of paintings. The composition is simple, and nothing is outstanding about it visually. However, it all comes down to emotion. It represents a warm-hearted moment in the buzzing, bohemian life Munch pursued most of his life. He found a moment to forget about all the dark thoughts and simply enjoy the buzzing scenery of Norway’s capital.

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