Sunday, July 2, 2023

Oslo, Norway: Munch Museum

People throughout the world know at least one piece of work from Edvard Munch. It's a brightly colored, somewhat surrealistic painting called "Scream." Munch lived from 1863 to 1944, and he now ranks as one of Norway's best known artists.

So why not have a museum dedicated to his work?

Done. The original was opened in 1963, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Munch's birthday. There was talk of a new facility in 2008, but that ran into some political problems over funding. Eventually, the place got built near the Opera House. 

In the summer of 2021, about 28,000 pieces of art were carefully moved to the new location. It has about half of the all of Munch's originals pieces of art, and has prints of the rest of them. Throw in some other items, such as plates, books, and other items by different artists, and you have a filled-up museum.

One line about the place stays with me concerning the design. A critic said the museum looks like the world's largest collection of guard rails. OK, now you've got me curious.

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