Nothing But Good: Pietertje van Splunter / Edvard Munch

Saturday 10 June 2023

Pietertje van Splunter / Edvard Munch

Edvard Munch

House with Red Virginia Creeper

1898-1900

oil on canvas

119,5 x 121 cm

Munch Museum, Oslo

The artist I want to highlight for Nothing But Good is Munch.

As a young painter, I did not like Munch. Much of his work I found pathetic, uncomfortable, weird compositions, limp shapes and skimpy brushwork. But during a visit to Oslo, I suddenly found myself in front of the 1900 painting "House with Red Virginia Creeper" at the Munch Museum. It looks like a simple depiction of a red house, a tree, a man. The painting is almost square, the composition felt uncomfortable. The man in the foreground has only his head in the picture, the tree almost seems to grow out of his head, the perspective is strange, all the elements seem pasted together. The painting fascinated and the apparent mess annoyed me. I decided to 'improve' the painting. I re-painted it a total of 18 times in different ways where, of course, I soon realised that this painting cannot be improved. It is precisely that weird composition, everything painted just a little crooked and 'dickish' that makes this painting so good.

Later I found out that Munch also painted this same house with roughly the same composition three times, earlier versions hang in the National Museum and in a private collection. He also clearly struggled with the composition. The final version in the Munch Museum is the last and, as far as I am concerned, incorrigibly beautiful.

Pietertje van Splunter, 2023