Sickness, insanity and death were the angels that surrounded my cradle and they have followed me throughout my life.
Edvard MunchRead
At different moments you see with different eyes. You see differently in the morning than you do in the evening. In addition, how you see is also dependent on your emotional state. Because of this, a motif can be seen in many different ways, and this is what makes art interesting.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Our perspectives change based on time and emotions, which adds richness to our experience of art.
Edvard Munch's quote highlights the idea that perception is subjective and can shift based on various factors, including the time of day and one's emotional state. As a result, the same piece of art can evoke different feelings and interpretations at different moments, underscoring the complexity and beauty of artistic expression.
Themes
PerceptionArtEmotionSubjectivityExperience
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech on the value of creativity, one might include Munch's quote to emphasize the importance of perspective in understanding art.
More from Edvard Munch
All quotes →I don’t believe in an art that is not born out of man’s need to open his heart.
Edvard MunchRead
Through my art I have tried to explain my life and its meaning. I have also intended to help others to clarify their lives.
Edvard MunchRead
My fear of life is necessary to me, as is my illness. Without anxiety and illness, I am a ship without a rudder. My art is grounded in reflections over being different from others. My sufferings are part of my self and my art. They are indistinguishable from me, and their destruction would destroy my art. I want to keep those sufferings
Edvard MunchRead
From my rotting body, flowers shall grow and I am in them and that is eternity.
Edvard MunchRead
I felt as if there were invisible threads connecting us - I felt the invisible strands of her hair still winding around me - and thus as she disappeared completely beyond the sea - I still felt it, felt the pain where my heart was bleeding - because the threads could not be severed.
Edvard MunchRead
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It was an unforgettable picture to see Chopin sitting at the piano like a clairvoyant, lost in his dreams; to see how his vision communicated itself through his playing, and how, at the end of each piece, he had the sad habit of running one finger over the length of the plaintive keyboard, as though to tear himself forcibly away from his dream.
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Music is the tonal reflection of beauty.
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