''Melancholy'' (Norwegian: ''Melankoli''; also known as ''Jappe on the Beach'', ''Jealousy'' or ''Evening'') is a painting by the Norwegian artist

Edvard Munch Edvard Munch ( , ; 12 December 1863 – 23 January 1944) was a Norwegian painter. His best known work, ''The Scream'' (1893), has become one of Western art's most iconic images. His childhood was overshadowed by illness, bereavement and the dr ...

. Munch painted multiple variant versions of the expressionist work in oil on

canvas Canvas is an extremely durable plain-woven fabric used for making sails, tents, marquees, backpacks, shelters, as a support for oil painting and for other items for which sturdiness is required, as well as in such fashion objects as handbags ...

during the period 1891–1893. The painting depicts a man with his head resting in his hand in a pensive mood at the edge of a shoreline. The inspiration for the painting was an unhappy romantic affair that Munch's friend, Jappe Nilssen, was involved in. In Munch's painting the figure of the melancholy man is at the right, and his mood is represented by the undulating shoreline and skylines that extend toward the left. Critics suggest that there are also erotic allusions, perhaps in the presence of the Moon reflected on the water. The landscape represents Asgardstrand's beach where Munch spent his summers from 1889. ''Melancholy'' was exhibited in 1891 at the Autumn Exhibition in Oslo.Eggum, Arne (1984). ''Edvard Munch: Paintings, sketches, and studies''. Crown. p. 75. . The artist and journalist

Christian Krohg Christian Krohg (13 August 1852 – 16 October 1925) was a Norwegian naturalist painter, illustrator, author and journalist. Krohg was inspired by the realism art movement and often chose motifs from everyday life. He was the director and s ...

credited it as the first

Symbolist Symbolism was a late 19th-century art movement of French and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts seeking to represent absolute truths symbolically through language and metaphorical images, mainly as a reaction against naturalism and realis ...

painting by a Norwegian artist. Munch painted more than one version of the composition in 1891.Eggum, Arne (1984) ''Edvard Munch: Paintings, sketches, and studies''. Crown. pp. 74–75. . A version completed in 1892–93 is in the National Gallery, Oslo.Lombardi, Laura (2009). ''From Realism To Art Nouveau''. New York, NY: Sterling Pub.

Other versions

File:Edvard Munch - Evening. Melancholy (1891).jpg, ''Evening. Melancholy'', 1891. Oil, pencil and crayon on canvas. 73 × 101 cm. Munch Museum, Oslo File:Munch Melankoli 1892.jpg, ''Melancholy'', 1892. Oil on canvas. 64 x 96 cm. National Gallery, Oslo File:Edvard Munch - Melancholy (1893).jpg, ''Melancholy'', 1893. Oil on canvas. 86 × 129 cm. Munch Museum, Oslo File:Edvard Munch - Melancholy (1894-96).jpg, ''Melancholy'', 1894–1896. Oil on canvas. 81 × 100.5 cm. Bergen Kunstmuseum, Bergen File:Edvard Munch - Evening. Melancholy I - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Evening. Melancholy I'', 1896. Woodcut. 41.1 × 55.7 cm. Munch Museum, Oslo File:'Evening, Melancholy I' by Edvard Munch, woodcut, 1896.jpg, ''Evening. Melancholy I'', 1896. Woodcut. 37.2 × 45.2 cm

References

{{Edvard Munch Paintings by Edvard Munch 1891 paintings Paintings in the collection of the National Gallery (Norway) Ships in art