Boys Bathing

Boys Bathing by Edvard Munch Norwegian, 1863-1944, is a significant example of Expressionist graphic art, executed in 1899. This complex work is a color woodcut printed on cream card, distinguished by Munch's innovative technical approach. Rather than relying on multiple separate blocks for each color, the artist created the image from just two blocks, strategically sawing one of them into two distinct, movable sections. This allowed Munch to ink and print various colors simultaneously during a single pull, a revolutionary technique that emphasized the texture of the wood grain and enhanced the immediacy of the resulting print.

Munch consistently utilized the woodcut medium to explore themes of youth, nature, and the psychological landscape, subjects central to the fin-de-siècle culture in Norway. The directness and roughness inherent in the woodcut process perfectly complemented the artist’s aesthetic, creating highly simplified figures framed by the deep, dark contrasts achieved through printing. The figures of the youths in Boys Bathing are rendered with characteristic flatness and intensity, highlighting the expressive power derived from stark delineation rather than naturalistic detail.

The overall output from this period demonstrates Munch's mastery as a graphic artist and his commitment to disseminating his core artistic visions through the medium of prints. The work is crucial for understanding the transition toward Modernism in Northern European art. This impression of Boys Bathing is part of the distinguished collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, offering a key insight into the work of the prolific Norwegian master. Many of Munch’s major graphic pieces from this era, now over a century old, are widely referenced and studied globally, with high-quality images frequently entering the public domain.