Melancholy

A man lost in thought by the sea

A man sits at the edge of a beach, head resting on his hand, staring into the distance. Behind him, the shoreline curves away in long, wavy lines to a small jetty. Edvard Munch painted several versions of Melancholy in the early and mid-1890s.

This version belongs to KODE, the art museums of Bergen, in the Rasmus Meyer Collection.

Head on hand

The man’s face is pale, his eyes downcast, his head on his hand: the traditional pose of melancholy. He is often identified as Munch’s friend Jappe Nilssen, who was suffering from an unhappy love affair.

A shore drawn in curves

The coastline sweeps away in flowing lines, leading to a jetty where tiny figures stand near a boat. The setting is the shore at Åsgårdstrand, where Munch spent his summers.

In the foreground, rocks are reduced to simple, rounded shapes. Mood matters more than detail.

Questions about Melancholy

Who is the man?

He is often identified as Munch’s friend Jappe Nilssen.

Where is this version?

KODE Art Museums, Bergen (Rasmus Meyer Collection).

Where is the shore?

At Åsgårdstrand on the Oslo fjord.

Are there other versions?

Yes. Munch painted the subject several times.

Sources and image credit

• Wikimedia Commons: Melancholy, KODE

Public-domain reproduction of Melancholy, via Wikimedia Commons. Detail images are crops of the same image; no reconstruction or upscaling.