The Sick Child
by Edvard Munch, 1886
StyleExpressionism
Artwork Details
Details
- Year
- 1886
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Size
- 119.5 cm × 118.5 cm
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Edvard Munch painted this oil on canvas work in 1886 reflects the Expressionism movement's influence on European art. As a Norwegian artist, Edvard Munch brought specific cultural perspectives to their work.
The composition demonstrates Edvard Munch's command of pictorial elements. Form, color, and arrangement work together toward expressive effect. Technical skill serves the artist's larger vision and purpose.
Today the work held at National Gallery of Norway in Oslo. Viewing the original reveals details of brushwork and color that reproductions cannot capture. The museum context places the work alongside related pieces from the same tradition.
Edvard Munch (1863-1944) was a Norwegian artist working within the Expressionism tradition.
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About The Sick Child
The first version (1885-86) is at the National Gallery of Norway in Oslo. Edvard Munch created six versions of this subject between 1885 and 1927, reflecting how deeply it affected him throughout his life.
A young red-haired girl sits propped up in bed, pale and gaunt, looking toward a grieving woman (likely her mother) who bows her head beside her. The scene depicts illness and impending death. Munch painted it from memory of his sister Sophie, who died of tuberculosis in 1877 at age 15.
Sophie's death when Munch was 13 shaped his entire artistic life. He returned to the theme obsessively. Each version explores grief, loss, and the fragility of life in a slightly different way. His mother had also died of tuberculosis when he was five, doubling the trauma.
The first version was radical for its time: scratched, scraped, and reworked surfaces that outraged critics who expected smooth finish. It anticipates Expressionism by decades. Munch deliberately destroyed conventional 'beauty' to express raw emotion.
It measures 119.5 cm × 118.5 cm (47 × 46.7 inches). The greenish palette and rough texture create an atmosphere of sickness and despair. Norwegian critics savaged it when first shown in 1886, but Munch always considered it a breakthrough: his first truly personal painting.
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