It’s good to be home. After 5 weeks of being away, we’re (me, husband and the children) enjoying our beds, TV, couch and individual washrooms. Talking about washrooms, here’s a piece of information that surprised me- no matter how big the house may be in Norway, having 2 bathrooms is a luxury. But, that’s not the purpose of this post.

This post is of my penultimate day in Oslo. It was the last chance I had during the trip to visit the Munch museum and I had to make it happen. So, we left Sandefjord by the 2 p.m. train (the first door you see in the post is the station door at Sandefjord) and reached Oslo after an hour and a half. Fortunately, being a Thursday, the museum was open until 9.00 p.m. So, after checking in to the hotel and freshening up a wee bit, we left for the museum.

On the way, I saw this fabulous church. I love the way the sun’s rays fall on the walls and the door.

The Munch museum, dedicated to Norwegian artist, Edvard Munch, famous for his paintings, ‘Scream’ and ‘Madonna’ stands on the waterfront beside the Oslo Opera and Ballet Center, whose photograph I’d shared in my previous post, Norway Diaries: Sunday in Oslo (Doors, Flowers,Poetry and more) . The pier in Bjørvika, was luckily just a 800m walk from the hotel in which we stayed.

The old museum at Tøyen, Oslo,was opened in 1963, 100 years after Munch’s birthday. When Germany invaded Norway in 1940, Munch changed his will, transferring the paintings to the Municipality to protect them from being destroyed by the Germans. So, the museum has paintings and articles donated by Munch upon his death to the Oslo municipality and those given by his sister later on.

The new museum in Bjørvika, Oslo, was opened in October, 2021. In front of the new museum is a 9 metre high bronze sculpture of a woman, titled ‘The Mother’ by British artist Tracey Emin, who was born in 1963. The inspiration for the sculpture is that Edvard Munch lost his mother at the age of 5.
It’s huge and dwarfs all the other structures in the vicinity, making it impossible to miss it.

The ticket to the museum is NOK 160.00 and can be bought at the museum. The entire tour can be done in one and a half hours (as told to me at the ticket counter when I asked).

The museum is around 7 floors high and you could get a good view of the pier without going to the rooftop restaurant if not for metal rods which are a part of the museum’s structure (a design that it has been criticized for). The 6th floor has art by some other artists, none of which appealed to me but like they say, ‘Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. And like my older daughter said, on looking at the video, ‘It requires creativity to put these things together on a canvas.’

One of the floors (I don’t remember which) has Munch’s articles like his paintbrushes, palettes, paints, easel, painting table, phone and a host of other things. There’s also an interactive space where Munch’s imaginary housekeeper (audio) invites you in and tells you to wait until Mr Munch can join. Photographs of his paintings and details about his life are shared here.

The exhibition of his paintings aim ‘to showcase Munch’s art as unfinished and open to different perspectives’. Munch’s paintings are in 4 exhibition halls on the first 3 floors. His art work is divided into 12 themes which can be seen in any order – Alone, To die, Love, Gender, Outdoors, Naked, Others, Oneself, In Motion, On the Surface and Variations.
The paintings below are under the theme, ‘Naked’

These are under the theme, ‘Alone’. The paintings are self-explanatory.

And these are paintings of Munch’s aunt, Karen. Aunt Karen was his mother’s sister who moved in with the family to take care of the children after Munch’s mother’s death when Munch was 5. It was she who first recognized young Munch’s talent and supported his joining art school. As a young child, he often fell sick during the winters and could not attend school. At home, restricted to his bed, Munch drew whatever he saw around him.

I like how easily Munch manages to show the details in the below painting though black is the primary color here.

And this here is more my kind of paintings. It’s definitely those that I’d like to try out.

When I saw the below painting by Munch, it made me imagine him on the pier looking at a sight like I had seen and capturing it on a canvas. Only, I had used my mobile camera to capture it. I like how while painting seemingly simple lines and bold colors without blending much (you can see his brush strokes), he manages to recreate the scene so well, that it appears easy to repeat. But, I know for me, it will take me time to get it right.

Below are a few other paintings done by Edvard Munch

And finally, the painting that he’s most known for, ‘The Scream’. I went in to the exhibition looking for it and couldn’t find it the first time. Then, I asked someone who I saw was leaving the exhibition and they said it was on the third floor. So, in I went again and still couldn’t find it. It was placed in a dark room within the exhibition hall. Two walls from where I could see were black and had nothing on them. I checked with someone again and they said, ‘In there’. On the 3rd wall were three versions of ‘The Scream’, all done by Munch. The first one was done in 1893 using crayons and pastels (he liked experimenting with different mediums). The second one done in 1895 was the lithograph of the painting in black and white which was first reproduced in books and journals. Apparently, ‘Munch was world-class graphic artist. The third one was probably done in 1910, using brushes and fluid paint.

If you notice at the bottom of the above photograph, it says, ‘Each work is displayed for one hour at a time.’ The below work was displayed during the time I was there.

It’s a coincidence that I wrote a poem on the above painting in April this year. It was a prompt given by the Fb group, TSL on Day 1 of NaPoWriMO. The poem is based on a real-life tragedy that took place during Covid. The incident was disturbing and it demanded to be written but I had no idea how to go about it. Then the prompt of ‘The Scream’ appeared and the poem wrote itself out. For all those who wish to read it, here’s the poem and the message I’d written with it.

Did you hear the scream?


'Ma, where are you taking me?' he said
As she lifted him from his bed
'It's Father's Day, silly. I'm taking you to Daddy.'
In her arms, swaddled in his blanket, she held him close.
'I love you,' she whispered.

He blinked, smiled and snuggled closer to her.
A cool breeze ruffled his hair.
'You were born to fly, Garud,' she whispered.
Her voice- music to his ears; he nodded
asleep; he heard her heartbeat, louder than usual

She had told him, 'The world was cruel.'
But here in her arms, all he felt, was safe.
He felt a rush of air; he was flying.
Just like he was meant to, like his name- just like she was always saying.
But he wasn't soaring.

He was hurtling earthwards.
Thud! He lay in a pool of blood.
He looked at himself lying there, dead
And her beside him. 
'She threw her son and flung herself?' someone said.

She was looking at him- tears in her eyes.
'Why?' he wanted to ask. 'Why did you tell me lies?
That you loved me. You took away my life.'
He saw her smiling at him. 
'I made it happen,' she was saying.

'Now we can be together again- your dad, me and you.'
'Garud, I love you. You know it's true.'
He took a step back. He did not know her anymore.
He saw his father- watching from afar.
There were tears in his eyes- she had killed their son.

He could not forgive her.
They were farther away from each other now
than ever before.
He could not meet his son's eyes. 
What mother killed a sleeping child?

'Didn't you hear the scream?' the police were asking
'No', they said. 'We know her husband died last month,
and his parents a month before. Her mother's dead.
Her father's old. She was lonely and depressed.
But, no...she made no sound.'

@ Copyright Smitha V
Note: This poem is based on a true incident
https://indianexpress.com/.../woman-jumps-off-building.../
This poem is for Garud, the ten-year-old who died, and his mother, who found herself alone when she lost her husband to covid. I'd been meaning to write it a long time ago but had no idea how to go about it. This prompt allowed me to. This poem is also for all those who are subject to suffering and whose voices go unheard.

The Munch museum was the last stop on my trip to Norway. On my way back to the hotel, I took the below pictures of doors.

I hope you enjoyed a visit to the Munch museum with me. If you’d like to know more about Norway, click this link.

I’m linking this post to the Thursday Doors challenge. The Thursday Doors is a weekly challenge at Dan Antion’s site for people who love doors and architecture to come together to admire and share their favorite door photos, drawings, or other images or stories from around the world. If you’d like to join, share a link to your post in the comments in Dan’s post.

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Last, but not the least, here’s a link to my book, ‘Coming Home’. It’s available on Amazon as kindle and paperback. It’s currently free for Kindle Unlimited subscribers.

If you like to read a feel-good story on family, relationships, and self-discovery, then go ahead and check it out. For the Kindle and paperback edition of the book, please click here. The book is available in most countries.

You can get your copy of the paperback edition in India by clicking here.

‘Coming Home’ is free for Kindle unlimited subscribers. Grab your copy now, read and share a review.

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