Behind Edvard Munch
Stenseth, Bodil: Pakten. Munch - en familiehistorieFull title: Behind Edvard Munch - a Family History
"Sickness, madness, and death were the black angels who stood watch beside my cradle and who have followed me through life ever since." Thus goes one of the Norwegian painter Edvard Munch's most quoted records. He was of the opinion that the tuberculosis and mental problems affecting so many in his family were inherited.
Bodil Stenseth sees an important connection between Edvard Munch's life and his art. She feels that there was a "pact" between the members of the family - an unspoken pact that they should not have any descendants. The only one who married anyway and had a child, was Edvard's brother Andreas. He died young, before the child was born.
Munch's family history shows us the attitudes of the time towards the role of the family, death, disease and inheritance, and to the role of an artist. Bodil Stenseth combines strong personal engagement in a tragic story with a clear analytical insight.
First published: 2004, Aschehoug Non-Fiction
German sample translation available from Aschehoug Agency.
Bodil Stenseth: Biography and bibliography
