Artwork
Naked Small Girl
Naked Small Girl is a chalk painting by the Post-Impressionist artist Edvard Munch. It dates from 1910 and is held in the collection of the Munch Museum.
About this work
Overview
Created in 1910, *Naked Small Girl* is a red‑chalk drawing by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch. The work presents a solitary, nude child rendered in a loose, sketch‑like manner. It is part of the permanent collection of the Munch Museum in Oslo and exemplifies Munch’s interest in intimate, psychologically charged subjects.
Subject & Meaning
The composition shows a small figure seen in profile, arms folded across the chest, standing against an unadorned background. The starkness of the pose and the minimal detailing invite contemplation of vulnerability and innocence, themes that recur throughout Munch’s oeuvre as reflections of personal and existential concerns.
Technique & Style
Executed with red chalk on light paper, the drawing relies on swift, gestural strokes that outline the head, limbs and torso with minimal line work. The medium’s vivid hue contrasts sharply with the paper, emphasizing the figure’s form while preserving a sense of immediacy characteristic of Munch’s post‑impressionist approach to drawing.
History & Provenance
Munch produced the piece during a period marked by personal health struggles and the loss of close relatives, experiences that informed much of his output. After its creation, the drawing entered the holdings of the Munch Museum, where it remains accessible for study and public viewing.
Context
At the time of the drawing’s execution, Munch was studying at Oslo’s Royal School of Art and Design under the radical thinker Hans Jæger. The intellectual climate of early‑20th‑century Norway, combined with Jæger’s nihilist ideas, encouraged Munch to explore raw emotional states through simplified, expressive forms.
Artist & collection
Artist
Edvard Munch ( MUUNK; Norwegian: ; 12 December 1863 – 23 January 1944) was a Norwegian painter.
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