Self-Portrait with Wounded Eye

ca. 1930

Not on view

Returned to lender

This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.

This self-portrait is barely painted at all. Sketchy outlines, accentuated by an occasional run of paint, leave the preprimed canvas openly visible. Unsigned, the work is difficult to date; the distinct darkened area around the right eye, however, suggests it is related to Munch’s condition in 1930, when a hemorrhage impaired the painter’s vision. Since he had already lost full function of his left eye, Munch found himself threatened with blindness. During his convalescence, he recorded the phenomena of entoptic vision (visual effects that originate within the eye itself) caused by the hemorrhage in colorful sketches, watercolors, and paintings. Yet here he chose to employ only the sparsest means, conveying a sense of bleakness that seems to directly mirror his fear for his eyesight.

Artwork Details

Overview

Exhibition History

Title: Self-Portrait with Wounded Eye
Artist: Edvard Munch (Norwegian, Løten 1863–1944 Ekely)
Date: ca. 1930
Geography: Country of Origin Norway
Medium: Charcoal and oil (and lithographic chalk?) on canvas
Dimensions: 35 7/16 × 28 3/8 in. (90 × 72 cm)
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Munch Museum, Oslo
Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art