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The Sick Child
Edvard Munch · Symbolism & Art Nouveau
- Artist
- Edvard Munch (1863–1944)
- Date
- 1896
- Dimensions
- 121.5 x 118.5 cm
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Location
- Gothenburg Museum of Art, Gothenburg, Sweden
The Sick Child shows a pale red-haired girl propped up on a large white pillow, gazing towards a window outside the picture. A grieving woman in black sits beside her, head bowed, holding the girl's hand.
A closer look
The painting recalls the death of Munch's elder sister Sophie, who died of tuberculosis in 1877 at the age of fifteen, nine years after their mother had died of the same disease. Munch returned to the subject again and again throughout his life. The brushwork is rough, scraped and streaked, as if the image were dissolving through tears; the colours are restrained, with the girl's face and the pillow glowing in the middle. The first version, of 1885–86, caused a scandal for its 'unfinished' look; this second version, painted ten years later, is more colourful and serene.
More by Edvard Munch
In this gallery
Famous works elsewhere
- Vampire 1893
- Death and the Child 1899
- The Scream 1893
- Dr. Linde's Sons 1903
- From Travemünde 1903
- Arve Arvesen 1891