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Opening Lecture: Edvard Munch: Technically Speaking

A colorful oil painting depicts a well-dressed man and woman standing on a rocky shore, staring off into the sea.
Edvard Munch, Two Human Beings (The Lonely Ones), 1906–8. Oil on canvas. Harvard Art Museums/Busch-Reisinger Museum, The Philip and Lynn Straus Collection, 2023.551.

Lecture

In-Person
Harvard Art Museums, Menschel Hall, Lower Level
32 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA, Enter at Broadway for evening programs

This event encourages but does not require registration; see further details below.

We invite you to the opening lecture for the special exhibition Edvard Munch: Technically Speaking, on view from March 7 through July 27, 2025. Curators and conservators will deliver brief presentations about Munch’s techniques, materials, and methods, followed by a discussion about the intersection of the artist’s printmaking and painting practices.

A dynamic collaboration between curatorial and conservation experts at the Harvard Art Museums, Edvard Munch: Technically Speaking offers rare insight into the Norwegian artist’s innovative techniques and the recurring themes across his paintings, woodcuts, lithographs, etchings, and combination prints. Thanks to a transformational gift from the collection of Philip A. and Lynn G. Straus, the Harvard Art Museums house one of the largest and most significant collections of artwork by Munch in the United States, and the exhibition showcases roughly 70 works, including key loans from the Munchmuseet in Oslo.

Following the program, guests are invited to visit the exhibition on Level 3.

Speakers:
Ute Kuhlemann Falck, Senior Curator, Munchmuseet (Oslo)
Inger Grimstad, Paintings Conservator, Munchmuseet (Oslo)
Lynette Roth, Daimler Curator of the Busch-Reisinger Museum, Harvard Art Museums
Elizabeth M. Rudy, Carl A. Weyerhaeuser Curator of Prints, Harvard Art Museums
Kate Smith, Senior Conservator of Paintings and Head of the Paintings Lab, Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies, Harvard Art Museums

Free admission, but seating is limited and registration is encouraged. You can register by clicking on the event on this form beginning Monday, February 24, after 10am.

The lecture will take place in Menschel Hall, Lower Level. Doors to the hall will open for seating at 5:30pm. Please enter at Broadway.

This lecture will be recorded and made available for online viewing; check back shortly after the event for the link to view.

Limited complimentary parking is available in the Broadway Garage, 7 Felton Street, Cambridge.

The Harvard Art Museums offer free admission every day, Tuesday through Sunday. Please see the museum visit page to learn about our general policies for visiting the museums.

Support for this exhibition is provided by the Melvin R. Seiden and Janine Luke Fund for Publications and Exhibitions, The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, the Lois and George de Menil Curatorial Research Fund, and the Care of the Busch-Reisinger Museum Collection Endowment. Related programming is supported by the M. Victor Leventritt Lecture Series Endowment Fund.

The Harvard Art Museums are committed to accessibility for all visitors. For anyone requiring accessibility accommodations for our programs, please contact us at am_register@harvard.edu at least 48 hours in advance. Please include the name and date of the program in the subject line of your email.