Norwegian artist Munch trained as an engineer before turning to art in 1881. Around 1885, he moved from painting in an impressionist style to an art dealing with his own emotional turmoil. Munch's most common themes are jealousy, tragedy, sickness and the awakening of sexual desire. His works often possess an anguished intensity, epitomised in his most famous painting, The Scream, which has become an icon of modern art. Munch translated many of the images from his paintings into prints. His woodcuts helped to inspire a revival of the technique in the twentieth century, particularly among the expressionist artists.
The representation of subjects or ideas by use of a device or motif to create underlying meaning. A literary and artistic movement that originated in France and spread through much of Europe in the late nineteenth century. There was no consistent style but rather an appeal to the idea of the artist as mystic or visionary and the desire to express a world beyond superficial appearances.
A printmaking technique using a stone or zinc plate to which the image is applied with a greasy material. After wetting the plate, greasy ink is applied. The ink sticks only to the drawn image and not the wet surface, thus creating a reproduction when applied to paper.