Hidden Symbol On Edward Munch’s Paintings And Photography(1902-1944)

Edward Munch was recognized as the forerunner of expressionism in western history of art and his works which painted the spirit of human misery awaken the flat life of numb beings like a clock.Since the nineteenth century,he had attacked the monotonous,correct and rational modern society with his unique and inexplicable emotional experience,which means he chosen a bolshy way to release it in the progress of creativity.At the time of the prosperity of traditional naturalist painting,he realized that the objective and existent reality could not save the spiritual vacancy caused by "God’s death",even not cure the wounds sustained in his life.He usually injected his own emotions into objective creative media,hoping to achieve his goal that treating nature through temperament.Moreover,his creative progress shows a typical feature of the symbol,reappearing the invisible thing in a visible form.Therefore,this dissertation attempts to restore the creative experience of Munch himself,especially his creation in the twentieth century,and explore the subtle symbolic implication in his works.This dissertation is divided into six chapters.The first chapter is the introduction,which is the main overview of research status and significance.From the second chapter,in order to draw Munch creative direction in the twentieth century,it discusses the times background of influencing his creation and the relationship between painting and photography.The third and fourth chapters,as the main part of this thesis,explore the core and motivity of existence and creation,which including his "self" survey and "duplicate" experiments in painting and photographic works.In short,in the twentieth century,Munch creates a series of self-portraits and selfiecity that implied psychological dimensions,showed the process of "Dasein" examining the "Existenz" by looking directly at the death.He realized that overcoming the fear of death required "Being-towards-death".However,for the essence of his creation,he is clearly influenced by Descartes’ dualism of mind and matter.He is confused between the illusory soul in consciousness and the existing matter in world.And it is also the normal state of Munch which means he poured abundant emotion into the material medium to make it feel sensible.The fifth chapter narrates the specific works respectively,mainlyincluding the works of "landscape" other than himself,as well as his avant-garde image creation.The sixth chapter is an overview of the influence,reflection and conclusion,summarizing on the impact of Munch’s paintings and the introspection of photography respectively.Finally,it concludes that Munch has a variety of other qualities that can be known beyond the commentary of the history of art,and symbolism has been accompanied by his creation.Compared with Van Gogh,Munch lived more longer,so the development of his creations can continue to be propelled by the times.When creating his works,he focused on individuality,that is,from the perspective of the expression of individual spirit,exploring the expression of his own emotions in the media.The awareness of concepts revealed in his paintings and photographic works also has positive enlightenment on contemporary art in creation and criticism.