Marvel at Munch...

A new building has transformed Oslo's skyline, nodding respectfully towards Norway's bustling capital.

This is MUNCH

A brand new museum on Oslo’s waterfront tailor-made for the worlds largest collection of art by Edvard Munch opened last Friday on the 22nd of October. The new museum will be the number one destination for experiencing Edvard Munch’s life and art and is one of the world’s largest museums dedicated to a single artist.

Estudio Herreros designed the sixty-metre tall building, which has less than half the emissions of corresponding buildings. Many of the architectural decisions were climate driven. The building is clad in wavy recycled aluminium panels that have varying degrees of transparency. The exterior is designed to screen and reflect sunlight to maintain a stable temperature inside.

As is always the case with art, while some seem to be loving the building, others are less than impressed saying that it looks to be slumped over in a depressing manner.

‘Depressing’ is a word that is often used about Munch himself. He had a rather troubled life and died at his home in Oslo in 1944, shortly after his 80th birthday. At the time of his death in 1944, Edvard Munch had no descendants to oversee his estate, he had therefore chosen to bequeath all of the artworks still in his possession to the City of Oslo.

There was a huge collection of paintings, prints and photographs including many version of his most famous work ‘The Scream’. The work was not about the man screaming but Nature herself. With Cop26 getting ready to start in Glasgow, Nature is screaming even louder now but politicians still don’t seem ready to listen to her…

I was walking along the road with two friends. The Sun was setting –

The Sky turned a bloody red

And I felt a whiff of Melancholy – I stood

Still, deathly tired – over the blue-black

Fjord and City hung Blood and Tongues of Fire

My Friends walked on – I remained behind

– shivering with Anxiety – I felt the great Scream in Nature

Edvard was also more than a little fond of vampires. A subject he returned to again and again.

The new museum will be a “meeting place for everyone for all types of cultural occasions. We want to broaden the idea about what a museum is, and provide opportunities for completely new experiences and perspectives”

I’m sure vampires as well as visitors will be made most welcome.

Queen Marie 🤣