Men on the Seashore
Summer 1907. Munch traveled to Warnemünde, a resort on the Baltic Sea, for a period of recovery. He rented a small fisherman’s house not far from the sea, where he discovered a new subject. For the first time the Norwegian artist focused his attention on the naked male body. The following year, he painted two men in a frontal pose, while the third plunges into the waves to join the rest of the group. A photo shows Munch working on a variation of the same motif. He is standing on the sandy beach, holding a palette and paintbrush, a naked model posing in the background. This version was intended for an exhibition at Kunstsalon Clematis in Hamburg, but it never left the gallery’s cellar: “Naked men are still unusual,” as the collector Gustav Schiefler wrote to Munch.
1908
Oil on canvas
100.0 x 120.0cm
2060
Image © Belvedere, Vienna, 2024
Where you'll find this
Upper Belvedere
Permanent collection