Munch was born in what is now Oslo and, after his mother died of tuberculosis in 1868, was raised by his father. His father's mental illness profoundly affected Munch and the deeply personal statements of his paintings echoed his troubled life: "Sickness, insanity and death were the angels that surrounded my cradle and they have followed me throughout my life."

Munch began his studies in 1881 at the Royal School of Design of Kristiania (later Oslo). In 1885 the artist traveled to Paris where he first encountered the Impressionist and Impressionist works of Manet and Cezanne. While stylistically influenced by the Post- Impressionists, Munch's subject matter is Symbolist in content, depicting a state of mind rather than an external reality. During his career Munch traveled between Norway, Paris and Berlin... [View Full Biography]