Artwork
Ebba Ridderstad
Ebba Ridderstad is an oil painting by the Post-Impressionist artist Edvard Munch. It dates from 1935 and is held in the collection of the Munch Museum.
About this work
Overview
Edvard Munch’s 1935 oil portrait titled Ebba Ridderstad presents a standing figure before a window, rendered in a palette of blues and yellows. The work belongs to the collection of the Munch Museum in Oslo and exemplifies the artist’s later engagement with post‑impressionist and expressionist tendencies, combining vivid colour fields with visible, gestural brushwork.
Subject & Meaning
The sitter is Ebba Pauli Ridderstad, portrayed in a blue dress and hat. Her face is rendered with loose, expressive strokes that convey a psychological presence rather than a strict likeness, aligning with Munch’s broader interest in interior emotional states and the fleeting nuances of personal identity.
Technique & Style
Executed in oil on canvas, the painting employs bold, non‑naturalistic colours and a dynamic handling of paint. Visible brushstrokes create a sense of movement, while the simplified forms and flattened background echo post‑impressionist concerns, and the emotive distortion hints at the expressionist language that Munch helped pioneer.
History & Provenance
Created in 1935, the portrait entered the holdings of the Munch Museum, the principal repository for the artist’s oeuvre. Its acquisition reflects the museum’s mission to preserve works that illustrate Munch’s evolving style after his early Symbolist period, offering insight into his later portraiture.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Edvard Munch ( MUUNK; Norwegian:; 12 December 1863 – 23 January 1944) was a Norwegian painter.
