1893
oil
canvas
From the collection of Art Institute of Chicago
Dominant colour
The Girl by the Window is a 1893 oil by Edvard Munch, a Impressionism work, held at Art Institute of Chicago.
The painting shows a young girl standing by a window at night. She's drawing back a curtain to look outside. The room is dark, with deep shadows and a sense of isolation. The girl is alone, and the darkness makes her feel cut off. The floor seems tilted, which adds to the feeling of unease. The colors used are brown, blue, and violet, which makes the atmosphere feel sad. The artist used loose brushstrokes to create this mood. Check out the work of artist Edvard Munch.
Standing before a window in the dead of night, a young girl draws back a curtain to gaze at the street from her darkened room. Deep shadows envelop the interior, obscuring all but the suggestion of a rounded piece of furniture at the lower right. The darkness, combined with the sharply tilted floor, gives a sense of precariousness and isolation to the figure. Loosely applied brown, blue, and violet tones enhance the melancholy atmosphere. The window serves as a symbolic barrier, separating the interior from the outside world, but also as a membrane, through which moonlight casts glowing…
Arthur von Franquet (died 1931), Braunschweig, from 1893 [acquired directly from the artist; see correspondence in Munch Museum archives, Oslo]; by descent to his nephew Herbert von Franquet, 1931. Sold to Neue Galerie, Vienna, 25 September 1935 [letter from Otto Kallir Nirenstein, Neue Galerie, to Edvard Munch, 26 September 1935, in Munch Museum archives, in which he states that he bought the picture the previous day and it "stammt aus der Sammlung Franquet," copy in curatorial file]. Harald Hort Halvorsen, Oslo, 1937 [bought in Paris in 1937 according to Halvorsen 1952]; sold by him to Pål…
Kristiania (present-day Oslo), Juveler Tostrups Gaard, Edvard Munch's Maleriudstilling, September 1892, no. 45. Berlin, Verein Berliner Künstler, Sonder-Ausstellung des Malers Edvard Munch aus Christiania, November 5–19, 1892, no. 23; traveled to Düsseldorf, Eduard Schulte, November 1892; Köln, Eduard Schulte, December 1892; Berlin, Equitable-Palast, December 1892 – January 1893; Copenhagen, Skandinavisk Kunstudstillings Lokaler, February – March 1893; Dresden, Victoriahaus, May 1893. Lugano, Museo d'Arte Moderna, Edvard Munch, September 19–December 13, 1998, no. 15 Vienna, Graphische…
Read the full account in the museum source.
Edvard Munch ( MUUNK; Norwegian: ; 12 December 1863 – 23 January 1944) was a Norwegian painter.
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