Thomas Köhler, Stefanie Heckmann, and Janina Nentwig (eds.), Edvard Munch. Magic of the North, Berlin: Berlinische Galerie, Hirmer Publishers, 2023, 304 p.

Abstract

The catalogue of the exhibition Edvard Munch. Magic of the North (15.09.2023–22.01.2024), curated by the Berlinische Galerie. Museum für Moderne Kunst can be reviewed as a book, as it consists of several research-based texts which could function as its chapters. As such, they analyze various pivotal aspects of Munch’s work and highlight the aims and structure of the exhibition. The essays are preceded by a section dedicated to the works chosen to represent Munch’s oeuvre in the current exhibition, headed by brief captions, which are also reproduced throughout the display of the works in the gallery, and followed by a biography of the artist, structured around Berlin landmarks, studios, galleries and bars. Both in the exhibition and in the catalogue, Munch’s works are presented in thematic clusters, which complement rather than fully reflect the concept and the topics explored in the essays. The exhibition and the catalogue produced for this occasion aim to examine Edvard Munch’s special relationship with Berlin, and to argue that his original style developed in the context and under the influence of this growing and dynamic city, to reconstruct the development of the artist’s aesthetic practice, defining his style and emphasizing the originality of his work, and to evaluate the reception of his art in the capital of the Empire, highlighting the impact of Munch’s work on both his contemporaries and younger artists.