Man and Woman
1905
Medium
woodcut in black on wove paper
Dimensions
plate: 25.08 × 19.84 cm (9 7/8 × 7 13/16 in.) sheet: 30.48 × 29.21 cm (12 × 11 1/2 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of the Epstein Family Collection
Accession Number
2018.204.1
Art Historical Context
Edvard Munch's *Man and Woman* (1905) is a striking woodcut print that captures the artist's lifelong fascination with human relationships, love, and emotional tension. As a pioneer of Expressionism, Munch channeled personal anguish and psychological depth into his works, often drawing from his own turbulent experiences. This intimate depiction of a couple, rendered in bold black lines on wove paper, exemplifies his shift toward printmaking as a democratic medium to reach wider audiences beyond oil paintings. The woodcut—carving images into wood blocks and printing them in relief—allowed Munc...
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...