Edvard Munch, The Sick Child
1885-86Paintings sorted by Historical period | Painter | Subject matter | Pigments used
Overview
Medium: oil
Support: canvas
Size: 120 x 118.5 cm
Art movement: Expressionism
Nasjonalmuseet Oslo
NG.M.00839
‘The Sick Child’ is one of Munch’s early works and according to his own words, it signifies his departure from realism. The painting in the Nasjonalmuseet Oslo is one of the six versions of the motif.
The pigment analysis reveals an exceedingly rich palette and elaborate handling of colour. Among the pigments used by the artist are chrome yellow, yellow ochre, cobalt blue, charcoal black, emerald green, artificial ultramarine and vermilion.
Pigments
Pigment Analysis
This pigment analysis is based on the work of British and Norwegian scientists (1).
1 Grey area, upper left: lead white, zinc white, artificial ultramarine, vermilion, red lake, red ochre, possibly umber, emerald green or Scheele’s green and an unidentified chromium pigment.
2 Green area, lower right: lead white, artificial ultramarine, zinc white, charcoal black, bone black, red ochre, yellow ochre, possibly umber, emerald green, or Scheele’s green and a chromate pigment, possibly chrome yellow.
3 Pink area, upper tacking margin: lead white, zinc white, artificial ultramarine, vermilion, red ochre, cadmium yellow, cobalt blue, and a chromate pigment, possibly chrome yellow or zinc yellow.
4 The red area on the moulding of the chest of drawers: lead white, zinc white, red ochre, yellow ochre, vermilion, umber, artificial ultramarine, emerald green, or Scheele’s green and a chromate pigment, possibly chrome yellow.
5 Paint fragment from overpainting on the damaged area, bottom right: cobalt blue and vermilion.
6 Paint fragment from the edge of the damaged area, bottom right: artificial ultramarine, vermilion, lead white, chalk.
References
(1) Brian Singer, Trond Aslaksby, Biljana Topalova-Casadiego and Eva Storevik Tveit, Investigation of Materials Used by Edvard Munch, Studies in Conservation 55, 2010, pp. 274-292.
Pigments Used in This Painting
Resources
Videos
Video: 'Edvard Munch,The Sick Child' by Thielska Galleriet
This video describes a later version of the same motif painted in 1907 and owned by Thielska Galleriet in Stockholm, Sweden.
Video: 'Edvard Munch, A collection of 1640 works' by LearnFromMasters
Video: 'Edvard Munch, The Life of an Artist' by Artists in the School
Publications and Websites
Publications
Brian Singer, Trond Aslaksby, Biljana Topalova-Casadiego and Eva Storevik Tveit, Investigation of Materials Used by Edvard Munch, Studies in Conservation 55, 2010, pp. 274-292.
Johan H. Langaard and Sigurd Willoch, Edvard Munch, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1965. Available online and as pdf.
Plahter, Unn. “Munch’s Paintings: Scientific Research Both Recent and in Retrospect.” Public paintings by Edvard Munch and his contemporaries – change and conservation challenges, Archeype Publications (2015): 3–35.
