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The Dance of Life

Artist: Edvard Munch (1863–1944)
Date: 1899–1900
Dimensions: 125.5 x 190.5 cm
Medium: Oil on canvas
Location: National Museum, Oslo, Norway

The Dance of Life shows couples dancing on a grassy shore by the sea on a summer night. In the centre, a man dances with a woman in a red dress; on the left a young woman in white smiles and reaches for a flower, and on the right a woman in black watches, her hands clasped.

A closer look

The three women represent the stages of a woman's life and of love as Munch saw it: innocent hope, burning passion and loss or loneliness. The red dress of the central dancer seems to wrap around the man's legs, as if binding him. Behind them, other couples whirl in a wilder dance, and the moon casts a glowing column of light on the water, a motif Munch used repeatedly. The setting is the beach at Åsgårdstrand, the coastal village where Munch spent many summers.

History of the painting

In 1910 the Norwegian collector Olaf Schou gave the painting to the National Gallery in Kristiania (today Oslo), as part of a generous gift of Norwegian art that also included other key works by Munch. It has been in the national collection ever since and now hangs in the National Museum that opened in 2022.

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