Edvard Munch's Mermaid

Edvard Munch (18631944) has attained lasting fame for paintings and printsabove all The Scream that express the isolation and anxieties of the modern condition. Recently, the Philadelphia Museum of Art acquired a large Munch painting, Mermaid, little known outside a small circle of experts because it had never been displayed in museums or galleries. To introduce this important work to the public, the Museum has organized an exhibition that presents Mermaid alongside related paintings, drawings, and prints. Edvard Munchs Mermaid, which accompanies the exhibition, provides the first comprehensive discussion of the paintings history and significance. The Norwegian industrialist and collector Axel Heiberg commissioned Mermaid from Munch in 1896, when the artist was living in Paris, absorbing the citys intellectual life, expanding his work as a printmaker, and extending his activities to new realms, such as designing the theater sets and program for Henrik Ibsens play Peer Gynt. The first two essays in this book from the Philadelphia Museum of Art situate Mermaid, Munchs first decorative painting, within the rich ferment of this period in his life. The paintings Norwegian imagery, Symbolist ethos, and Art Nouveau influences are explored even as its relationship to Munchs printmaking of 189697 and other artistic activities is elucidated. Mermaid was removed from Heibergs house in 1938 and was converted by a restorer from a trapezoidal format to a standard rectangle. The final essay discusses the changes to the painting in light of Munchs highly personal and complex views on the alteration of his works. Edvard Munchs Mermaid reproduces all the prints, drawings, and paintings in the exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, September 24December 31, 2005.