Artwork
Charlotte Corday
Charlotte Corday is an oil painting by the Post-Impressionist artist Edvard Munch. It dates from 1930 and is held in the collection of the Munch Museum.
About this work
Overview
Created in 1930, this oil painting by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch carries the title *Charlotte Corday*. Though the name references the French revolutionary figure, the canvas presents a scene drawn from the historical episode of the death of Jean‑Paul Marat, merging two iconic moments of the French Revolution in a single visual narrative.
Subject & Meaning
The central figure is a woman dressed in black, her face pallid and eyes dark, holding a red rose. She stands before a muted brown wall with a doorway on the left, her posture upright and expression solemn. The juxtaposition of the rose’s vivid hue against the somber attire suggests a tension between beauty and mortality, echoing the tragic fate of Marat.
Technique & Style
Munch employs the expressive color palette characteristic of Post‑Impressionism, allowing pink, orange, and blue tones to swirl in the background while the foreground remains sharply defined. The brushwork is bold yet controlled, emphasizing emotional intensity over strict realism, a hallmark of Munch’s mature style.
History & Provenance
The work entered the collection of the Munch Museum, where it remains part of the permanent holdings. Its acquisition reflects the museum’s commitment to preserving the full range of Munch’s output, including lesser‑known historical subjects.
Context
Munch’s early years were marked by personal loss and illness, experiences that informed his later preoccupation with existential themes.
Munch’s early years were marked by personal loss and illness, experiences that informed his later preoccupation with existential themes. His education at the Royal School of Art and Design in Kristiania (now Oslo) and his association with the radical writer Hans Jæger contributed to an artistic outlook that embraced psychological depth and symbolic content, evident in this painting’s layered narrative.
Artist & collection
Artist
Edvard Munch ( MUUNK; Norwegian: ; 12 December 1863 – 23 January 1944) was a Norwegian painter.
