The exhibition opened in Rome The Inner Cry (already hosted in Milan at Palazzo Reale). Present for the occasion The President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella He visited in preview, together with Her Majesty Queen Sonja of Norway. Also present in the inaugural procession were the Deputy Mayor of Rome Silvia Scozzese, the Minister of Culture Alessandro Giuli, the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Edoardo Rixi, the Deputy Minister of the Environment and Energy Security Vannia Gava, the Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Giorgio Silli, the Councilor of the Lazio Region with responsibility for Culture and Youth Policies Simona Renata Baldassarre, the Ambassador of Norway to Italy Johan Vibe, the Ambassador of Finland to Italy Matti Lassila, the Deputy Mayor of Oslo Julianne Ofstad, and the Director of the MUNCH Museum in Oslo Tone Hansen.
It recounts Munch's entire artistic journey, from his early works to his last works, through the themes dearest to him, linked together by his interpretation of the tormented essence of the human condition.
The exhibition has seven exhibition sections
The exhibition The Inner Cry will remain open until June 2, 2025 and includes a rich program of events that will involve numerous cultural organizations in the city, in order to analyze more deeply the artist's personality and expand the themes of his works. Edvard Munch (1863-1944) had an exceptional work ethic that led him to produce thousands of prints and paintings during his long life. Many works portray psychological struggles: the instabilities of erotic love, the toll of physical and psychological illness, and the void left by death. Others attempt to capture the invisible forces that Munch believed animated and bound the universe. This exhibition focuses on Munch’s inner fire, his commitment to crystallizing and communicating his memories and sensory perceptions. He explored ways of making his sensory and emotional experience visible by staging narrative scenes in flat areas of color and discordant perspectives. We can associate his works with a creative process that seeks to bring together what he observed, what he remembered, and what he charged with emotion. Munch’s early career coincided with radical changes in the study of perception, in which scientists, psychologists, philosophers, and artists debated the relationship between what the eye directly sees and how the contents of the mind influence vision. His enduring interest in the invisible forces that shape experience informed the works that made him one of the most important artists of his time. In his exploration of invisible forces, a precursor to 20th-century expressionism and even futurism, he continues to speak to our inner visions and contemporary concerns. In his works, Munch strove to make the invisible visible.
“In my art I have tried to explain life and its meaning to myself – I have also tried to help others understand their own lives.” Edvard Munch
Biographical notes on Edvard Munch (Norway, 1863 – 1944)
Among the main symbolists of the 5th century and a precursor of expressionism, an artist whose life was marked by great pain and early sorrows, Munch quickly established an immediate empathy with his spectators, making them perceive and not just see the suffering and anguish he depicted. The premature death of his mother at just 1892 years old, the loss of his sister and father, the tormented relationship with his fiancée Tulla Larsen constitute the primordial emotional material on which the artist began to form his poetics. Thanks to his extraordinary artistic talent, these poetics were then combined, in a completely original way, with his passion for the energies released by nature. His expressionless faces, his dazed landscapes, his powerful use of color and his need to communicate unspeakable pain and the most human anguish, managed to transform his works into universal messages and Munch into one of the most iconic artists of the XNUMXth century. Shock, visions and emotional violence translate into powerful images – sometimes direct, sometimes stifled emotionality – reiterated with the obsessive aim of reproducing as faithfully as possible the impression of scenes imprinted in the memory. Munch is one of the artists most capable of interpreting the feelings, passions and anxieties of his soul, communicating them in a powerful and direct way. Initially trained by the Norwegian naturalist Christian Krohg, who encouraged his painting career, in the XNUMXs he visited Paris where he absorbed the influences of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, which suggested a more intimate and dramatic use of color, but above all a psychological approach. approach. In Berlin he contributed to the formation of the Berlin Secession, and in XNUMX his first solo exhibition in Germany was held, considered scandalous: from that moment Munch was perceived as a subversive and cursed artist, alienated from society – an identity partly promoted by his literary friends. In the mid-XNUMXs he turned to printmaking and, through his experimentation, became one of the most influential artists in this field. His productivity and demanding exhibition schedule led him to volunteer for clinics from the late XNUMXs.
Painful romantic relationships, a traumatic accident and alcoholism – a life lived “on the edge” – led to a psychological breakdown from which he tried to recover in a private clinic between 1908 and 1909. After living most of his life abroad, the forty-five-year-old artist returned to Norway, settling by the sea and painting landscapes. Here he began work on the giant murals in the University Hall at the University of Oslo. These canvases, the largest of Expressionism in Europe, reflect his lively interest in invisible forces and the nature of the universe. In 1914 he purchased a property in Ekely, Oslo, where, as an internationally renowned artist, he continued his experimental work until his death in 1944, just a month after his eightieth birthday.
The exhibition is curated by Patricia G. Berman, one of the world's greatest Munch scholars, with the academic contribution of Costantino D'Orazio. Produced in collaboration with the MUNCH Museum in Oslo. The exhibition's main partner is Fondazione
