Opening Lecture—Edvard Munch: Technically Speaking

Watch the opening lecture for the special exhibition "Edvard Munch: Technically Speaking," on view from March 7 through July 27, 2025. Curators and conservators deliver brief presentations about Munch’s techniques, materials, and methods, followed by a discussion about the intersection of the artist’s printmaking and painting practices.

"Edvard Munch: Technically Speaking" offers rare insight into the Norwegian artist’s innovative techniques and the recurring themes across his paintings, woodcuts, lithographs, etchings, and combination prints. Thanks to a transformational gift from the collection of Philip A. and Lynn G. Straus, the Harvard Art Museums house one of the largest and most significant collections of artwork by Munch in the United States, and the exhibition showcases roughly 70 works, including key loans from the Munchmuseet in Oslo.

Be inspired: https://harvardartmuseums.org/edvardm...

Speakers:
Ute Kuhlemann Falck, Senior Curator, Munchmuseet (Oslo)
Inger Grimstad, Paintings Conservator, Munchmuseet (Oslo)
Lynette Roth, Daimler Curator of the Busch-Reisinger Museum, Harvard Art Museums
Elizabeth M. Rudy, Carl A. Weyerhaeuser Curator of Prints, Harvard Art Museums
Kate Smith, Senior Conservator of Paintings and Head of the Paintings Lab, Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies, Harvard Art Museums
Welcoming Remarks by Sarah Ganz Blythe, Elizabeth and John Moors Cabot Director, Harvard Art Museums

Timestamps:
00:00:01 Welcome Remarks by Director Sarah Ganz Blythe
00:04:05 Exhibition introduction by curator Elizabeth Rudy
00:12:24 Introductions for Munch Museum speakers
00:14:00 Curator Ute Kuhlemann Falck, "Edvard Munch's 'Anxiety': From Painting to Wootcut-like Lithograph and Woodcut."
00:25:55 Conservator Inger Grimstad, "Edvard Munch's 'Anxiety': The Painting—Technically Speaking."
00:35:36 Discussion moderated by curator Lynette Roth
01:02:28 Q&A with Audience

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Support for this exhibition is provided by the Melvin R. Seiden and Janine Luke Fund for Publications and Exhibitions, The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, the Lois and George de Menil Curatorial Research Fund, and the Care of the Busch-Reisinger Museum Collection Endowment. Related programming is supported by the M. Victor Leventritt Lecture Series Endowment Fund.

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