Puberty (Munch painting)

''Puberty'' ( no, Pubertet) is an 1894–95 painting created by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch. ''Puberty'' has associations with both symbolism and expressionism, the former a movement from which Munch emerged, and the latter a movement in which Munch was pivotal. It is part of an informal series or cycle of paintings, prints, and images known as ''The Frieze of Life'', that Munch created in 1890s, although he often revisited and explored themes and images from the series throughout his career. The painting was also done as a lithograph and an etching by Munch.

Genesis

Whenever he was questioned on the subject, Munch maintained he had not been influenced by the work of the Belgium artist/illustrator Félicien Rops,Prelinger, Elizabeth and Michael Parke-Taylor (1996). ''The Symbolist Prints of Edvard Munch''. Yale University Press, New Haven. 236 pp. specifically the etching ''Le Plus Bel Amour De Don Juan'' 'Don Juan's Greatest Love'' published as an illustration in the second edition of Jules Amédée Barbey d’Aurevilly's book Les Diaboliques in 1882 (based on an earlier 1879 pencil drawing).Bade, Patrick (2003) ''Félicien Rops''. Parkstone Press Ltd, New York, 95 pp. ) However, art critics and historians have consistently noted the similarities; beginning with Przybyszewski (1894) the first publication ever devoted to Munch.Messer, Thomas M. (1970). ''Munch'': The Library of Great Painters. Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers, New York. 166 pp. Munch claimed the ca. 1894-95 painting was a copy of an earlier painting he first made in 1885 or 1886 and "that this earlier version had been lost in a studio fire". In the late 1880s and into the mid-1890s, Munch, in his mid-twenties, had begun to create his series of ''Puberty'' pieces. At this time Munch had already established himself as a notable artist in Berlin. During this period of his life Munch often found residence in Berlin, where his newfound fame and circle of friends were. His new group of friends are attributed for helping push Munch further into his sexually depressed state of mind. Munch allowed this sexual depression to seep into ''Puberty'' and like other works he created later this piece was created with symbolism reflecting feelings which continued growing increasingly within the next ten years. This state of sexual depression is one that not only his circle of friends shared with him, but that the psychological scholars had also been curious about having just written the first research on the stages and occurrences of puberty in young adults.

Subject matter

Munch's painting ''Puberty'' depicts a young naked girl sitting on the edge of a bed. Her legs are pressed together. She holds her hands in front of her body; one lies between her knees, while the other rests on her right thigh. She stares straight ahead with eyes wide open. Her mouth is closed and her long hair hangs down over the shoulders. The light enters from the left, and behind her a dark, ominous shadow is visible. The motif is often regarded as a symbol of anxiety and fear, a young girl's awakening sexuality and the changes a young person experiences physically and psychologically on the path towards adulthood.

Munch gave a number of titles to various versions of the motif, originally ''The Young Model'', later ''Puberty'', and still later ''At Night''. "The image can thus sustain various interpretations, from a view of a model by an artist to an evocation of nocturnal sensual pleasures and terrors."

Others' comments

*Arne Eggum has stated in commentary published by ''The Masterworks of Edvard Munch'' regarding Munch's ''Puberty'' that the images were so similar, Munch found it necessary to claim he did not wish to replicate Félicien Rops' 1886 ''Le Plus Bel Amour De Don Juan''. Les_Diaboliques''_with_Félicien_Rops.html" "title="lthough Eggum was in error; the 2nd ed. of '' Les Diaboliques'' with Félicien Rops">Rops etching, was published in 1882, not 1886].
*Munch claimed the painting is a duplicate of one that had been earlier destroyed in a fire in 1885 or 1886, reiterating the confusion of the original idea in which Munch was inspired to create ''Puberty''.
*Munch himself (like the female he has portrayed in ''Puberty'') feared sex due to the loss of his virginity to his cousin's wife.

Artistic growth

''Puberty'' was a spark towards the progress of his personal emotional journey in how he portrayed his feelings in his artwork.Deknatel, 1950 p. 15

Notes

References

* Deknatel, B. Frederick. (1950). ''Edvard Munch''. Chanticleer Press ASIN: B0007DVV12. 171
*Shelley Wood Cordulack, Edvard Munch (2002) ''Edvard Munch and the physiology of symbolism''. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press. ,
*Eggum, A., & Munch, E. (1979). ''Edvard Munch: paintings, sketches, and studies''. New York: C.N. Potter.

External links

Edvard Munch
at Munch Museum
''Puberty''
at Humanitiesweb (includes an image of the painting)
Edvard Much, ''Puberty''
a
wikipaintings.orgEdvard Munch as a painter
at Munch Museum


{{Edvard Munch

Paintings by Edvard Munch
1894 paintings
Nude art
Paintings in the collection of the National Gallery (Norway)