ArevealingexaminationofhowmentalillnessinformsandconnectsthehighlychargedworkofEdvardMunchandErnstLudwigKirchnerTheNorwegianartistEdvardMunch(1863-1944)andtheGermanartistErnstLudwigKirchner(1880-1938)areconsideredmodernistvisionaries.Theywerealsopioneeringprintmakers,eschewingthemasteryofonetechniqueforexperimentationacrossmany.Bornagenerationapart,theyworkedinanexpressionistmode,inwhichtheydidnotsimplyreplicatewhattheysawbutratherfilteredeverythingthroughtheirownimaginationandmemories.Exploitingtheperceptualandemotionalpowerofcolorandabstractionforcreativeexpression,theyportrayedwhattheyperceivedtobeafragmented,harrowingreality;bothartistsenduredboutsofanxietyanddepression,battledsubstanceabuse,andreceivedpsychiatriccare.Featuringnever-before-publishedprintsfromthecollectionofNelsonBlitzJr.andCatherineWoodard,aswellasetchings,lithographs,andhand-coloredwoodcutsfromselectpublicandprivatecollectionsacrosstheUnitedStates,thisvolumeputsthesetwogiantsofExpressionisminadialoguethatforegroundsissuesofmentalhealthandoffersafreshapproachthatblendsarthistoryandthehistoryofmedicaltreatment.Theincludedessaysexaminetheartisticaffinitiesanddivergencesintheirprintmakingandthewaysinwhichtheyusedshadowstoimaginepathologizedpsychologicalandpsychiatricexperiencesintheirart.DistributedfortheYaleUniversityArtGalleryExhibitionSchedule:YaleUniversityArtGallery(February16-June23,2024)
