5 Highlights from Lifeblood

There are many stories running through the Lifeblood exhibition. Linking them all are the connections you’ll discover between Edvard Munch’s life, art, and the world of medicine and care which evolved during his lifetime. Here are some highlights of the exhibition:

1. New ways of understanding Edvard Munch

Did you know that Edvard Munch was practically a vegetarian? Or that he painted himself while he was sick with the flu or an eye infection? In Lifeblood you’ll see many new angles on the artist which will deepen and enrich your understanding. For example: that from an early age he joined his father, who was a doctor, on medical visits and sketched patients and the inside of apothecary shops. Or that many of his friends were doctors, and he often gave them artworks in exchange for treatment.

A page featuring two separate interior scenes, from a sketch book by Edvard Munch aged 12. In the upper image, we see a stone chamber inside a castle, with grey walls and blue flagstones on the floor. Wooden cabinets stand against the wall, and steps lead upwards through an arched doorway. On the left, a figure in a blue robe is at work on a wooden workbench, preparing chemicals. The lower image shows a more modern chemist’s shop. Three customers wait at a long counter. The wall behind the counter is filled with shelves of bottles and jars of medicines. One assistant serves the customers while another stands on a ladder. — Interior of a Castle / Interior of an Apothecary’s Shop, Edvard Munch, 1875. Watercolour, pencil. Photo: Munchmuseet

2. A human skeleton

We don’t know whose skeleton this was, but we do know that they were born around the same time as Edvard Munch and was living in Paris at the same time as the artist. You can see this as well as other fascinating objects from the history of medicine, including a wooden baby incubator, medicine bottles, and a ‘spit flask’ used by tuberculosis sufferers. You can even see some tiny silver hearing aids which were once owned by Inger Munch – Edvard’s sister.

A human skeleton mounted on a plinth, used for anatomical study. On loan from the Norwegian Museum of Technology. Reflects Munch’s interest in anatomy, a recurring motif in his work. The bones show signs of age, with some dark discolouring to the rib cage. — The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology. Photo: Ove Kvavik, Munchmuseet

3. Wellness and tourism

Edvard Munch enjoyed the great age of foreign travel by sea and rail. Many of his journeys he took in search of better health. In the exhibition you’ll see examples of the spas, sanatoriums and healthy destinations he sought out, to improve his vitality and to gain inspiration. As some of his artworks show, there were often unhealthy temptations like gambling and drinking just around the corner!

A photograph of six objects placed on moulded furniture within the exhibition space. The objects are reproductions of vintage postcards on small handheld boards. The postcards show different spas, seaside resorts and other destinations in Europe connected to health and wellbeing. — Photo: Rob Young, Munchmuseet

4. Women in medicine

There are many stories in Lifeblood about women and medicine – both as patients and caregivers. Learn about the role of the deaconess nurse, the background to Munch’s artwork The Sick Child, the connections between contraception advocates like Marie Stopes and Katti Anker Møller and the eugenics movement, and Edvard Munch’s complex relationships with the nurses who treated his mental health problems at a private clinic in Copenhagen. And read an extraordinarily moving letter sent by his sister Laura Munch to her doctors, where she speaks of losing her will to live.

5. Edvard Munch’s death mask

A rare chance to see the original death mask which Edvard Munch’s personal doctor, Kristian Schreiner, made shortly after the artist’s death in 1944. The reproduction of his face is incredibly lifelike. You might think you are up close to the artist while he is having a short sleep…