Edvard Munch and the Uncanny is an exhibition currently in the Leopold Museum in Vienna. It’s gonna be there until January 18th.

The exhibition features art from the late 18th century to the early 20th and apart from Munch they have taken works from artists like Goya, Redon, Bosch, Piranesi, Kubin and Ensor (among others). It has a nice length – not going too slow, it takes you about an hour and a half or two hours to see it all. Personally, I thought Munch’s works the least spectacular but that’s probably because I’m more at home in the drawing/graphics department than in the paintings department. At least in this case.

Anyways, Munch’s paintings were less uncanny than disturbing in what they said about the man who painted them (paging Doctor Freud!). Judging from his painting (and from his paintings alone, I hardl know anything about him), he must have had a very difficult relationship with women in general and some pedophile tendencies.

The exhibition was an interesting summary of what was considered uncanny and partly still is. But some things do seem a little funny nowadays and less scary. Like one of my favourite pieces of the whole exhibition, Félicien Rops‘ Dinner with Atheists.

Unfortunately, I can’t find the version exhibited, but here’s a similar enough draft:

Generally speaking, I found it pretty amazing how many naked women there were in this exhibition – female nakedness and sexuality must be a really scary thing for men…

[More favourites after the break.]

Munch’s Vampire is an awesome example of his apparently conflicted relationship with women.

If it wasn”t titled The Vampire (which btw wasn’t Munch’s idea), it would be a picture of conciliation, of giving comfort. But no, WOMEN ARE EVIL BLOODSUCKERS!

This is Theodor Kittelsen‘s Forest Troll:

I love how the troll doesn’t live in the forest but is the forest.

Francisco de Goya’s The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters:

Klemens Brosch’s First Draft’s of the Artist’s Exlibris:

Unfortunately, this is not the version of the exhibition – I couldn’t find that. The one I saw was only the arm, no mountains and there were a lot more stars so the face wasn’t that visible. And the person on the hand was in a different position. But you get an impression. [Weirdly enough, they did not sell the exlibris in the museum shop. What a waste of perfect merchandise.]

I really liked the Redon and Kubin stuff exhibited. Here’s Redon’s Swamp Flower:

And here Kubin’s Horror:

And François Chifflart’s The Conscience:

I think that I’ll leave it at that. Let it just be said that the exhibition is worth a visit.