Puberty (Pubertet)

The influential Symbolist work, Puberty (Pubertet), was executed by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch in 1902. Although Munch is perhaps best known for his powerful 1894 oil painting exploring this critical theme, this specific iteration is a masterful example of his extensive output in the field of graphic prints. Created as an etching, the 1902 work revisits the subject of adolescent vulnerability and psychological turmoil, a concept central to the development of the Expressionist movement taking root at the turn of the century.

In this rendering, Munch employs the sharp, linear quality inherent to the etching process to accentuate the figure’s isolation and precarious state. The composition features a lone, nude young woman seated on the edge of a bed. She is shown shielding herself with crossed arms, her hands clasped tightly between her knees in a gesture of profound self-consciousness. Unlike the broad fields of color found in the earlier painted version, the 1902 print relies on contrast and suggestive line work to convey the emotional tension of the subject. The atmosphere is stark, using deep shadows behind the figure to amplify her psychological dread, symbolizing the dawning awareness of sexuality and existential angst often experienced during puberty.

As a leading figure in Norwegian art, Munch consistently channeled personal experience and modernist sensibility into universal themes of life, love, and death. This image stands as a definitive example of early 20th-century graphic arts, highlighting the artist’s skill in exploiting the medium to maximize emotional impact. The powerful visual statement contained within the etching reinforces Munch’s status as a preeminent artist of the modern era. This significant work is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), underscoring its historical importance within the catalogue of significant modern prints.