Landscape with Tree Trunk

Art Historical Context

Edvard Munch, the Norwegian artist renowned for his emotionally charged Expressionist works like *The Scream*, created *Landscape with Tree Trunk* between 1922 and 1924. By this later stage in his career, Munch had returned to his native Norway and often turned to intimate studies of the natural world. This small drawing captures a quiet, solitary scene, reflecting his ongoing fascination with landscape as a vehicle for personal expression during a period of relative seclusion. Executed in purple crayon on a modest sketchbook page measuring just 10.2 by 13.6 centimeters, the work highlights Munch’s direct and spontaneous approach. The humble medium allows for bold, immediate marks that convey texture and mood without elaborate preparation. As a page from a sketchbook now held in the National Gallery of Art’s Epstein Family Collection, it offers visitors a rare glimpse into the artist’s private process, where everyday observations could spark deeper artistic explorations.

About the Artist

Edvard Munch · 1863–1944

Edvard Munch (1863-1944) was a Norwegian painter and printmaker whose intensely psychological works made him a pioneer of Expressionism and one of the most influential artists of the modern era. His 1893 masterpiece 'The Scream' has become an iconic symbol of existential anxiety. Munch's art was profoundly shaped by personal tragedy—his mother died when he was five, his beloved sister Sophie at fo...