The Sun (1909-16)

At the beginning of December and towards the end of January the sun rises from the mouth of the Kragerø Fjord. During a few minutes, the life-giving sunrays drive away the winter darkness. The powerful experience of this impressive natural phenomenon inspired Munch to develop one of his most daring compositions, the Sun, as one of the decorations in the main hall at the Oslo University. The artist said that he had a virtually religious relation to light. Apparently Munch was preoccupied with the philosophical ideas of light’s life-giving powers. He painted this monumental masterpiece in his open-air studio by the house at Skrubben. The picture’s coastal landscape almost merges with the surroundings. As one of the town’s decorative painters, Munch’s friend Lars Fjeld gave the artist technical assistance in the creation of the picture’s linear sunrays. The view featured in the Sun is the same as seen from Munch’s house, with grassy slopes stretching to the steeper hill down towards the shore. Munch lets nature provide a simple frame for the face of the sun. Unfortunately, very little of this location has been preserved. It is possible to recognize parts of the rock to the left in the picture near the transformation kiosk and the bronze statue of Munch. 

The History (1909-16)

One of the great decorations in the main hall at the Oslo University presents an ancient Norwegian scenery. An old man is sitting beneath an old oak telling history to a little boy. Munch created a symbol of the narrative tradition between generations, which he regarded as the foundation of the understanding of history. The nature and the two persons have been taken out of time, but Munch was inspired by his close surroundings when he created this masterpiece. As model for the old man, he used one of his close helpers, Børre Eriksen, an old sailor and wharf worker. Eriksen lived at Thomesheia. He posed for Munch on the gravelled path in front of the painter’s house. Evidently Børre fascinated Munch. He viewed his old helper as an almost mystical character. Munch worked on The History at his open studio in front of his house. The view of the fjord behind the old man and the boy shows the Kragerø approach with the island of Skåtøy to the left and the coast of Stabbestad to the right. Munch used several children as models for the little boy, but best known is the later fishmonger Erik Krafft, grandson of one of Munch’s housemaids Stina Krafft. To create the monumental oak, Munch made studies of various trees in the Kragerø district.

The Yellow Timber Log (1912)

During the winter of 1912, Munch painted several pictures featuring timber felling. The location of these motifs was probably the area where Kragerø’s sports stadium is today. Mr George Dahll donated the land for the purpose of making tennis courts and a football field. Trees had to be felled during the winter to ease transport and for best possible timber quality. The log is yellow because the bark just has been stripped. The Yellow Timber Log is an excellent example of the artist’s use of perspective. The foreground is dominated by the standing trees’ vertical positions. These pines are solidly rooted, whilst the yellow log stretches deep into the picture. Munch created an irresistible perspective attracting the onlooker’s eye. The artist’s portrayal of the felled log gives a fascinating optical illusion. When we stand in front of the picture and look at the felled log, we get a strange feeling that it points straight at us even though we move.

Winter in Kragerø (1912)

Munch chose a beautiful pine tree behind his house for this motif. Old photos clearly show this tree as it proudly rises over its surroundings. The yellow building to the right in the picture is the barn, which belonged to Munch’s house. The hills up towards Høyåsen can be seen in the background. This is a characteristic Kragerø landscape. The naked trees lining the road from Skrubben to Smedsbukta can be seen slightly to the right of the pine tree. Munch painted several pictures of this tree-lined road, both in the summer with lush treetops, and in the spring with brown grass and melting snow. In Winter in Kragerø, Munch immortalizes nature’s tranquillity on a cool and clear winter day. The motif is simple, and clearly the artist has tried to create structure and order in his impression of nature. He has chosen a composition where the edges of the snow-covered rock in the foreground are parallel with the lines of the roof of the yellow building. This way Munch created a picture where the objects are in balance, and the painting of the pine tree and its surroundings gives the impression of monumental and peaceful harmony.

Workers in Snow (1910)

The central model in this famous work of art is Munch’s neighbour Kristoffer Hansen Stoa. He was a construction worker, and he also worked for the local council in one of the snow-clearing teams. Apparently, Munch was fascinated by this strong worker, not least his large hands. Before he painted Workers in Snow, Munch had shown interest in the work with snow clearing. He made several sketches of this theme when he travelled with the newly opened Bergen railway in the summer 1909. Although from very different backgrounds, Munch and Stoa got along well. Stoa was interested in music, and was a competent violinist. It is said that Munch was listening outside Stoa’s open window when he played inside. The two shared the interest in beautiful music. Stoa was strongly involved in the workers’ struggle for better working conditions. With Workers in Snow, Munch showed sympathy for the changes in the society around him. The artist portrays the worker as an impressive character who demanded respect for his struggle for a new society. Stoa lived in the house right in front of us.

Galloping Horse (1910-12)

Barthebakken’s narrow passage, which was blasted through the rock of Hefte, is the location of this picture. At Munch’s time it was even narrower than today. The galloping horse comes rushing towards us at a terrific speed, throwing its head wildly with flying mane. Standing on the sledge, a man tries to control the bolting horse. Terrified children jump aside. The flat sledge pulled by the horse was usually used to bring goods to the merchants around town. The sledge is empty, and the man with the horse is probably on his way to fetch more goods. At the hilltop, right behind the animal’s head, a little red house can be seen. It is Isaks bu, which is still there today. It is one of the very few material remains from Munch’s time at Skrubben. He also based several of his other motifs in the narrow passage at the upper part of Barthebakken. Together with the Galloping Horse these pictures demonstrate the artist’s sharp eye for the landscape around him. He had the ability to recognize how characteristic features could be used when realizing his artistic ideas.

Ship being scrapped (1909)

The era of the sailing ships was almost over when Munch arrived in Kragerø. The picture shows the bark Alfarin while she was scrapped in 1909. The picture is a documentation not only of this ship’s destiny, it also signals the end of an era in the history of the town. Alfarin was built for consul and ship owner Thomes Thomesen in 1873, and most of her time she had local owners. The ship’s different name probably means the one who travels everywhere, hence an all farer of the seven seas. The scrapping of the ship takes place in Bonneviebukta, and the steep rock of Tangeheia can be seen in the background. The bay below the church used to be the site of a shipyard, but from 1900 a merchant named Olsen ran a ship scrapping company here. The area was changed when the Kragerø railway was built in the 1920’s. The tunnel through Tangeheia was built for the trains, but was rebuilt for cars after the railway was closed at the end of the 1980’s. The steep rock and the road can still be seen from the spot where Munch painted. The white and yellow houses along the road are gone, while the houses on top of the rock are still there.

Green Tree by the Road (1913?)

When Munch created the tree in The History, he made studies of a giant oak in Rørvik and a big oak at Kalstad. In this picture Munch has painted the oak by the road in Rørvik. A long branch stretching over the road was characteristic of this tree. Some children had hung a swing from this branch, and the wear from the swing can be seen on the big branch in Munch’s History. In the 1940’s the landowner wanted to have the tree listed, but he did not succeed. Firstly, the long branch broke, and later the whole tree was removed when the road was widened.

Uphill with a Sledge (1910-12)

This winter picture shows a man working his way up the Barthebakken, pulling a sledge. He walks with a yellow dressed man to the right in the painting. The red houses on the little island of Gunnarsholmen can be seen in the background. These houses belonged to the iron foundry of Kragerø jernstøberi. The fjord is covered with white ice. The well-known profile of the Hefte rock can be seen to the right of the two men. This rock must have fascinated Munch, as it is featured in several of the landscape paintings from his time in Kragerø. The man with the heavy sled struggles against nature’s obstacles in the rough landscape. At the same time, Gunnarsholmen presents itself almost dreamlike in the background. Today, the little island is a public recreational area.

Street in Kragerø (1913)

Munch painted several pictures featuring children playing in the streets and on the smooth rocks around Skrubben. In Åsgårdstrand too, he studied similar motifs. This painting features children in the hill down towards Munchs own house. The artist is seen painting in exactly this road in a famous photo by A.F.Johansen. Johansen was a friend of Munch, and he had a reputable photo studio in Kragerø. The house in the background belonged to Kristoffer Hansen Stoa, who was the model of the central person in the picture Workers in Snow. This house is almost unchanged since Munch lived at Skrubben. The rocks on both sides of the road were blasted after World War II during industrial development at Skrubben.

Christian Gierløff (1909)

This wonderfully vibrant portrait is of Munch’s good friend, Christian Gierløff, standing in Barthebakken. Bysundet and the red buildings on Bosebodskjæret can be seen in the background. Gierløff was born into one of Kragerø’s timber merchant families, but became a radical writer and an important champion of housing reforms. He met Munch early in the 1900’s, and they instantly became good friends. Munch has explained that he painted Gierløff just before he was going to address the people of the town, which suits a passionate civic reformer. Gierløff wears a light yellow summer coat, and behind him is the bright blue harbour. The white rock with black spots behind him is now partly covered by a stone-wall. The buildings of Bosebodskjæret have been changed, but the view in the picture is still recognizable. Gierløff portrays the artist in Kragerø in his book Edvard Munch selv.

House in Kragerø (1916)

Munch has walked up the steep hills towards Høyåsen to find his motif for this lithography. The houses are still there, although with some changes, and some new houses have been added. The pines on top of the big rock make characteristic silhouettes towards the sky. Munch was not the first artist to be fascinated by this particular site, as the artist Fritz Thaulow also went there during his stay in Kragerø at the beginning of the 1880’s. In one of his sketchbooks, Munch draws this area seen from Biørneveien in the direction of the edge of Høyåsen.