Technical Examination of Edvard Munch’s Painting and Printmaking Techniques Highlighted in Harvard Art Museums Exhibition
This spring, the Harvard Art Museums present an exhibition of works by Edvard Munch that examines the artist’s innovative techniques and the recurring themes across his paintings, woodcuts, lithographs, etchings, and combination prints. Highlighting the collaborative partnership between curatorial and conservation experts at the museums, the exhibition reveals new and ongoing technical research into Munch’s practice and shares recent discoveries about his materials and highly experimental methods. Drawing on the strength of the museums’ collections, Edvard Munch: Technically Speaking will be on display March 7 through July 27, 2025, in the Special Exhibitions Gallery on Level 3 at the Harvard Art Museums. An array of public programs accompanies the exhibition, including an opening lecture on Thursday, March 6, at 6pm, a film screening, a seminar, and multiple gallery talks and tours.
The exhibition showcases 70 works, primarily from the Harvard Art Museums collections. Thanks to a transformative gift from Philip A. and Lynn G. Straus, the museums now house one of the largest and most significant collections of artwork by Munch in the United States—a collection that is also distinctive for its technical variety. Key loans from the Munch Museum in Oslo include two paintings and eight examples of the artist’s materials used for printmaking, seven of which have never before been on display in the United States. The exhibition is curated by Elizabeth M. Rudy, Carl A. Weyerhaeuser Curator of Prints, and Lynette Roth, Daimler Curator of the Busch-Reisinger Museum; with Peter Murphy, Stefan Engelhorn Curatorial Fellow in the Busch-Reisinger Museum. This is the first major presentation at Harvard to examine Munch’s techniques and materials through the lens of the Strauses’ collection in 30 years, following the 1983 exhibition and publication Edvard Munch: Master Printmaker (organized by Charles W. Haxthausen and written by Elizabeth Prelinger) and Norma S. Steinberg’s 1995 exhibition and catalogue Munch in Color.
Norwegian artist Edvard Munch (1863–1944) is well known for his innovative experiments in painting and printmaking. He often rendered the same subject matter in both mediums—repeatedly over decades—to investigate their distinctive possibilities. His highly expressive work deals with psychological themes of isolation, separation, anxiety, illness, and death, but also attraction and love. Technically Speaking explores Munch’s fascination with materiality, uncovers new avenues for thinking about his work, and delves into his unconventional techniques and the various themes he returned to again and again over many years.
“This exhibition showcases an exciting selection of Munch’s paintings and prints from a career that spanned more than 60 years,” said Elizabeth M. Rudy. “We are thrilled to present his work through a lens that is perfect for a university museum—one that reinforces our teaching and research mission—by sharing the results of our recent investigations into his techniques and materials.”
The exhibition begins with several iterations of Two Human Beings (The Lonely Ones), depicting a man and a woman standing at a shoreline, side by side yet isolated from one another. First painted by Munch in 1892 (a work later destroyed in an accident at sea), the motif is repeated in an etching from 1894 that depicts the original painting and five subsequent woodcuts that Munch produced between 1899 and 1917. The prints reveal the various intriguing woodcut and etching techniques the artist utilized and also show how he manipulated his jigsaw woodblocks to print different parts of a single work in different colors. They are displayed in the exhibition with the original steel-faced copperplate and jigsaw woodblock that were used to produce the prints. Two paintings on display continue the motif: the artist’s 1906–8 version from the Busch-Reisinger Museum’s collection is based on his woodcuts, and a later (final) version from around 1935, on loan from the Munch Museum, reverts to the composition of the couple used by Munch in his 1892 painting.
“Two Human Beings (The Lonely Ones) remains one of Munch’s most well-known subjects, and we are extremely fortunate to be able to trace his engagement with it over a period of more than 40 years and through nine works in our collections, supplemented by the generous loan of his last painting of the motif and two related matrices from the Munch Museum,” said Lynette Roth. “Together, they demonstrate the close relationship between painting and printmaking in Munch’s practice, his dedication to certain motifs over time, and his embrace of chance effects.”
Several other groupings highlight additional recurring themes in Munch’s work and how he experimented with their representation. Three woodcuts from the Woman’s Head against the Shore series show how Munch selectively printed his jigsaw woodblocks, omitting one of the pieces (the water) in one of the impressions. Four prints from The Kiss series—an etching and three woodcuts—portray a couple embracing in front of different backgrounds. Prints from Melancholy I and Melancholy III, on display with a rare example of Melancholy II, which Munch printed himself with his small hand-crank press, are shown with five of the artist’s original carved woodblocks. Four variations of Vampire II demonstrate how Munch sometimes combined lithographs with hand coloring and used woodblocks to add color as well. Also on display are three versions of Man’s Head in Woman’s Hair, including one used by Munch as a poster advertising an exhibition of his work at Diorama Hall in Kristiania (now Oslo).
Over the last several months, the works in the exhibition from Harvard’s collections have undergone technical study, including pigment analysis, selective treatments such as cleaning and varnish removal, and most of the prints were rematted and reframed. The painting Two Human Beings (1906–8) was varnished at some point in its history, which is not consistent with Munch’s practice of leaving his canvases without a unified glossy surface; this varnish has been removed. Train Smoke (1910) needed paint stabilization and cleaning to remove atmospheric grime, and Winter in Kragerø (1915) had its varnish removed to reveal a more vibrant snowy scene. This work was carried out by staff from the Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies, including Ellen Davis, Associate Paintings Conservator; Abby Schleicher, Assistant Paper Conservator; and Kate Smith, Senior Conservator of Paintings and Head of the Paintings Lab, and their findings are presented in the exhibition. Additionally, all six paintings on display from Harvard’s collections were reframed with new, historically accurate frames.
A small booklet, Speaking Technically: A Glossary of Painting and Printmaking Terms, is free to visitors in the exhibition galleries; it provides a handy reference for the technical painting and printmaking terms used throughout the exhibition. When unfolded, the booklet becomes a poster illustrating a composite image of Two Human Beings (The Lonely Ones) made up of Munch’s various iterations of the motif in painted and printed media.
“Munch’s deep experimentations in painting and printmaking meant that he was constantly reworking his canvases and layering many different types of print techniques, which can become complicated to describe,” said Peter Murphy. “As research was underway and our conservators and curatorial team were deciphering how he created many of his works, I set out to break down the technical terms we were using in a friendly, digestible way. We hope that visitors will find the glossary useful, not only in the exhibition, but as something that can be kept and referenced beyond the show.”
A special table in one of the galleries provides visitors with further interactive opportunities to learn about Munch’s materials and processes. Developed by Cambra Sklarz, Diane and Michael Maher Curatorial Fellow of American Art, the case includes samples of various supports similar to those favored by Munch, including modern handmade and machine-made papers used for prints. These papers are placed over a light source that, when lit, reveals the differing structure and makeup of each paper type. Samples of oil paint on rough burlap and finer linen likewise demonstrate how the choice of textile affects the appearance of a painted work. In this same space, visitors are invited to make their own version of Munch’s Vampire II by layering plastic sheets containing reproductions of the various components that the artist used to make his prints.
Supplementary exhibition-related content has been developed especially for the Harvard Art Museums’ presence on Bloomberg Connects, a free app that provides digital access to cultural institutions around the world. The content includes video demonstrations of printmaking techniques, audio clips of members of the curatorial and conservation team sharing their thoughts on their favorite works, and archival images. QR codes throughout the exhibition point to specific content, and beginning March 6, everything can be browsed online by visiting links.bloombergconnects.org/6Ggw/qvaupyed. Download the Bloomberg Connects app on a mobile device for the best user experience.
Public programs accompanying the exhibition include an opening night lecture on Thursday, March 6, beginning at 6pm, which will commence with an introduction by exhibition co-curator Elizabeth Rudy, followed by short presentations by Munch Museum’s senior curator Ute Kuhlemann Falck and paintings conservator Inger Grimstad. Co-curator Lynette Roth and paintings conservator Kate Smith will then join the presenters for a panel discussion to conclude the event. A screening of a 35mm print of the 1974 film Edvard Munch (Peter Watkins; French, English, Norwegian, German, Swedish, and Danish with English subtitles; 210 min.), with an introduction by experimental filmmaker Ben Rivers, will take place off-site at the nearby Harvard Film Archive on Sunday, March 9, at 7pm. On March 27, from 5pm to 9pm, the Harvard Art Museums at Night program will celebrate the Edvard Munch exhibition with tours by the members of the curatorial and conservation team, a Materials Lab activity, and a special giveaway. An Art Study Center seminar, Edvard Munch and German Expressionism, led by co-curator Peter Murphy, will be held on Friday, April 18, at 11am. One-hour exhibition tours led by a member of the curatorial team and 30-minute gallery talks led by various scholars who will discuss their insights on one or a small group of works in the exhibition will also be offered throughout the run of the show. Admission to the Harvard Art Museums is free, but some programs have a fee and/or require registration. For full details, updates, and to register, please click the links above or see our calendar: harvardartmuseums.org/calendar. Questions? Call 617-495-9400.
Support for the 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.
About the Harvard Art Museums
The Harvard Art Museums collections are comprised of a quarter million works in a variety of media that span from ancient times to the present and from the Americas, Europe, Africa, the Mediterranean, and Asia. Explore over 50 galleries of art across three floors in a historic facility, renovated and expanded by Renzo Piano Building Workshop. Open Tuesday–Sunday, 10am–5pm; closed Mondays and major holidays. Admission is free to all visitors. For further information about visiting, including general policies, see harvardartmuseums.org.
The Harvard Art Museums receive support from the Massachusetts Cultural Council.
For more information, please contact
Jennifer Aubin
Assistant Director of Media Relations
Harvard Art Museums
617-496-5331
jennifer_aubin@harvard.edu