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Two Women on the Shore

A work made of woodcut printed from one block (sawn into three sections) in dark blue, green, black and red-brown ink with additions in green crayon on cream japanese paper.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of woodcut printed from one block (sawn into three sections) in dark blue, green, black and red-brown ink with additions in green crayon on cream japanese paper.

Date:

1898

Artist:

Edvard Munch
Norwegian, 1863-1944

About this artwork

The themes of loneliness, sex, and death are given powerful expression in Edvard Munch’s color woodcut Two Women on the Shore. A young girl, clad in white, gazes yearningly across the dark sea toward an unknown future. She seems oblivious to the deathlike figure beside her which she is fated to become. Incorporating the rough texture of the woodblock and limiting himself to basic shapes and a few colors, the Norwegian artist created a disturbing image of the fruitlessness of love and hope.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

Edvard Munch

Title

Two Women on the Shore

Place

Norway (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1898

Medium

Woodcut printed from one block (sawn into three sections) in dark blue, green, black and red-brown ink with additions in green crayon on cream Japanese paper

Inscriptions

Signed: "E. Munch"

Dimensions

Image: 45.6 × 51.4 cm (18 × 20 1/4 in.); Sheet: 53.6 × 59.8 cm (21 1/8 × 23 9/16 in.)

Credit Line

Clarence Buckingham Collection

Reference Number

1963.293

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/17257/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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