TRAVEL TUESDAY 522 - REINE, NORWAY

“The world cannot live without the Arctic; it affects every living thing on Earth and acts as a virtual thermostat, reflecting sunlight and cooling the planet.” - Philippe Cousteau, Jr.

Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel.

There is only one simple rule: Link your own creative work about some aspect of travel and then share it with the rest of us.

Please use this meme for your creative endeavours only. Do not use this meme to advertise your products or services as any links or comments by advertisers will be removed immediately.

Reine is the administrative centre of Moskenes Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The fishing village is located on the island of Moskenesøya in the Lofoten archipelago, above the Arctic Circle, about 300 kilometres southwest of the city of Tromsø. Reine Church is located in the village. The 0.28-square-kilometre village has a population (2023) of 297 and a population density of 1,061 inhabitants per square kilometre.

Reine has been a trading post since 1743. It was also a centre for the local fishing industry with a fleet of boats and facilities for fish processing and marketing. There was also a little light industry. In December 1941, the Germans burnt part of Reine in reprisal for a raid on the Lofoten Islands by British troops. Today, tourism is important, and despite its remote location, many thousands of people visit annually. The village is situated on a promontory just off the European route E10 highway, which passes through the village.

Allers, the largest weekly magazine in Norway, selected Reine as the most beautiful village in Norway in the late 1970s. A photograph over Reine from the mountain Reinebringen (altitude 448 metres) has been used for the front page of several tourist brochures and books. In 1999, the painter Ingo Kühl set up a temporary studio in a rorbu (a traditional Norwegian fisherman's cabin, typically found in coastal villages and often built on stilts over the water) and painted the view over the harbour to the mountain range.

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TRAVEL TUESDAY 447 - OSLO, NORWAY

"For many years, it seemed as if nothing changed in Norway. You could leave the country for three months, travel the world, through coups d'etat, assassinations, famines, massacres and tsunamis, and come home to find that the only new thing in the newspapers was the crossword puzzle." - Jo Nesbø

Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel. There is only one simple rule: Link your own creative work about some aspect of travel and share it with the rest of us. Please use this meme for your creative endeavours only. Do not use this meme to advertise your products or services as any links or comments by advertisers will be removed immediately.

Oslo is the capital and the most populous city in Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. Founded in the year 1040, and established as a “kaupstad” or trading place in 1048 by King Harald III, the city was elevated to a bishopric in 1070 and a capital under Haakon V around 1300. Personal unions with Denmark from 1397 to 1523 and again from 1536 to 1814 and with Sweden from 1814 to 1905 reduced its influence.

After being destroyed by a fire in 1624, the city was moved closer to Akershus Fortress during the reign of King Christian IV and renamed Christiania in his honour.  It was established as a municipality (formannskapsdistrikt) on 1 January 1838. Following a spelling reform, it was known as Kristiania from 1877 to 1925, at which time its original Norwegian name was restored.

Oslo is the economic and governmental centre of Norway. The city is also a hub of Norwegian trade, banking, industry and shipping. It is an important centre for maritime industries and maritime trade in Europe. The city is home to many companies within the maritime sector, some of which are among the world’s largest shipping companies, shipbrokers and maritime insurance brokers.  Oslo is a pilot city of the Council of Europe and the European Commission intercultural cities programme.

Oslo is considered a global city and ranked “Beta World City” in studies carried out by the Globalisation and World Cities Study Group and Network in 2008. It was ranked number one in terms of quality of life among European large cities in the European Cities of the Future 2012 report by fDi magazine. A survey conducted by ECA International in 2011 placed Oslo as the second most expensive city in the world for living expenses after Tokyo. In 2013 Oslo tied with the Australian city of Melbourne as the fourth most expensive city in the world, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)'s Worldwide Cost of Living study. 

As of January 1, 2016, the municipality of Oslo has a population of 658,390, while the population of the city’s urban area was 942,084. The metropolitan area had an estimated population of 1.71 million. The population is currently increasing at record rates, making it the fastest growing major city in Europe. This growth stems for the most part from international immigration and related high birth rates, but also from intra-national migration. The immigrant population in the city is growing somewhat faster than the Norwegian population, and in the city proper this is now more than 25% of the total.

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TRAVEL TUESDAY #53 - OSLO, NORWAY

“We have to find compromises. That's the way it is in Norway.” - Kjell Magne Bondevik

Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel!

There is only one simple rule: Link your own creative work about some aspect of travel and share it with the rest of us!

Please use this meme for your creative endeavours only. Do not use this meme to advertise your products or services as any links or comments by advertisers will be removed immediately.

Oslo is the capital and the most populous city in Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. Founded in the year 1040, and established as a “kaupstad” or trading place in 1048 by King Harald III, the city was elevated to a bishopric in 1070 and a capital under Haakon V around 1300. Personal unions with Denmark from 1397 to 1523 and again from 1536 to 1814 and with Sweden from 1814 to 1905 reduced its influence. After being destroyed by a fire in 1624, the city was moved closer to Akershus Fortress during the reign of King Christian IV and renamed Christiania in his honour.

It was established as a municipality (formannskapsdistrikt) on 1 January 1838. Following a spelling reform, it was known as Kristiania from 1877 to 1925, at which time its original Norwegian name was restored. Oslo is the economic and governmental centre of Norway. The city is also a hub of Norwegian trade, banking, industry and shipping. It is an important centre for maritime industries and maritime trade in Europe. The city is home to many companies within the maritime sector, some of which are among the world’s largest shipping companies, shipbrokers and maritime insurance brokers.

Oslo is a pilot city of the Council of Europe and the European Commission intercultural cities programme. Oslo is considered a global city and ranked “Beta World City” in studies carried out by the Globalisation and World Cities Study Group and Network in 2008. It was ranked number one in terms of quality of life among European large cities in the European Cities of the Future 2012 report by fDi magazine. A survey conducted by ECA International in 2011 placed Oslo as the second most expensive city in the world for living expenses after Tokyo. In 2013 Oslo tied with the Australian city of Melbourne as the fourth most expensive city in the world, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)'s Worldwide Cost of Living study.

As of January 1, 2016, the municipality of Oslo has a population of 658,390, while the population of the city’s urban area was 942,084. The metropolitan area had an estimated population of 1.71 million. The population is currently increasing at record rates, making it the fastest growing major city in Europe. This growth stems for the most part from international immigration and related high birth rates, but also from intra-national migration. The immigrant population in the city is growing somewhat faster than the Norwegian population, and in the city proper this is now more than 25% of the total.

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ART SUNDAY - KNUD BAADE

“A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.” -  Oscar Wilde

Knud Andreassen Baade (28 March 1808 - 24 November 1879) was a Norwegian painter, mostly of portraits and landscapes. He was particularly known for his moonlight paintings which are characterised by strong and dramatic contrasts between light and shadow.

Baade was born in Skjold, a former municipality now in Vindafjord in Rogaland county, Norway. While still a boy he moved to Bergen with his family. He began his artistic education at the age of fifteen, under the Danish-Swedish painter, Carl Peter Lehmann (1794-1876). In 1827 he went to Copenhagen, where he studied at the Academy for about three years, until financial difficulties forced him to move to Christiania (now Oslo) and take up portrait-painting.

When his father became a magistrate in Sogn, he followed his family to the parish of Solvorn in Luster. The mountains, fjords and rocky bays offered ample subjects for his work. He also travelled northward to Trondheim and as far north as Bodø in search of material for his pictures. In 1836 he was persuaded by the well-known landscape painter, Dahl, to go to Dresden, where he studied for three years. There that he met Caspar David Friedrich and was strongly influenced by him.

He returned to Norway in 1839 due of a disease in his eyes. In 1846 he moved to Munich, where he soon earned a reputation as a landscape painter, producing views of his native country and the scenes around its coasts, mostly depicted with moonlight effects. Though but an invalid, he worked at Munich continually until his death there in 1879.

Baade was painter to the Court of Sweden, and a member of the Academy of Arts at Stockholm. He painted some fine portraits, especially in younger years, including portraits of his parents (1836). In addition to several trips to Sogn and Hardanger, Baade travelled widely in Germany. He also painted landscape scenes from Bavaria, Saxony, Tyrol and Switzerland. He is represented in the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design with 52 paintings.

The painting above is “Coastal Landscape in Moonlight”, painted in 1852. The work is typical of Baade’s oeuvre and shows his affinity with Friedrich’s canvases. The darkness of night and effects of moonlight on both sea and land have been rendered painstakingly and would appeal to the Romantic ideals of Baade’s time.

MOVIE MONDAY - HEADHUNTERS

“Violence, even well intentioned, always rebounds upon oneself.” - Lao Tzu
 

There have been some wonderful films out of the Scandinavian countries in the last few years and they have been refreshingly original, although often confronting and sometimes unpleasant to watch as they are raw and violent. We saw another of these films at the weekend, Morten Tyldum’s 2011 film “Headhunters” based on the novel by Jo Nesbø, and starring Aksel Hennie, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, and Synnøve Macody Lund. No, the film is not about Amazonian primitive tribes hunting for heads to shrink, but rather it is about a man who works in an employment recruitment agency and who lives beyond his means – this of course, gets him into all sorts of trouble.

I should warn the faint-hearted that this film is extremely violent and contains some very gruesome scenes. This is often the case with many of these films (I am reminded of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”) with the violence depicted, although excessive and unpleasant, forms an integral part of the plot. So it is with “Headhunters”, one of these new wave Norwegian films.
 

The plot revolves around Roger Brown (Aksel Hennie), who is one of the most powerful headhunters in a top employment agency in Norway. He has an extravagant lifestyle, a beautiful wife and an expensive mortgage. To support his lifestyle of the rich and famous he is also a part-time art thief, which he does in cahoots with his friend, the gun aficionado Ove Kjikerud, who work in a security company. Once they rob the art works, they replace the originals with forgeries, which go undetected at least until the trail back to the thieves goes cold. Brown is cool, calm and collected and he works hard to build a reputation as a top professional. However, this masks his insecurities, fuelled by his short stature at 1.68 metres.
 

Roger Brown feels that wealth and power are the only way to make his mark in the world and to get what he wants. He has a trophy wife, the beautiful art gallery owner Diana Brown (Synnøve Macody Lund). Roger seems to like the thought of what Diana represents more than Diana herself and he denies her what she most wants – a baby. Brown also he has a mistress on the side named Lotte. Diana introduces her husband to Clas Greve (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), a successful and handsome businessman. Clas Greve seems to be the perfect candidate for the CEO position at Pathfinder, a high tech company, for which Roger is currently recruiting.
 

Greve is also in possession of a priceless Rubens, which if Roger and Ove can steal, would be by far their most lucrative art theft to date. Although Brown and Kjikerud steal the painting without hitch, things start going wrong for Roger. He find out that Diana is having an affair with Greve and that someone is trying to kill him. He learns that it is Greve, who seems to know his every move. The remainder of the film is a cat and mouse game with Brown and Greve crossing swords and secrets being uncovered...
 

Both Aksel Hennie and Nicolai Coaster-Waldau are perfectly cast and Synnøve Macody Lund does a good job in her debut-role. The rest of the cast is excellent in supporting roles and the direction is faultless, as one would expect of someone of Morten Tyldum’s stature. The editing is wonderful and punchy and the action rolls on relentlessly, keeping the viewer on tenterhooks throughout the length of the movie. Upon its release, the film was sold to over 50 countries - a record for any Norwegian film. Summit Entertainment bought the rights to produce an American remake of this film, even before its initial release. This seems a pity, given the calibre of the original.
 

We enjoyed the film, although as I said earlier, the violence is quite confronting and some of the scenes are quite gruesome. The morals of the story (and especially the ending) may be questioned by the puritan viewer, however, there are quite fundamental transformations that occur in the characters, the message being that redemption is not beyond the reach of any of us, not even the most hardened criminal. If you can stomach raw and violent scenes on screen, watch the movie and you will be enthralled.

MOVIE MONDAY - IN A BETTER WORLD

“There is no revenge so complete as forgiveness.” - Josh Billings
 

It is not often that we watch a film that has the Best Film Oscar in the Academy Awards and we like the movie thus decorated. This is especially the case with the overall winners as far as the English language films are concerned. In terms of the Best Foreign Language Film given the Oscar, we seem to get slightly more satisfaction. At the weekend we watched the Susanne Bier 2010 film “In A Better World”, which took out the 2011 Oscar. We were pleasantly surprised and for once we had to agree wholeheartedly that this film really did deserve its prize. The film is a Danish/Norwegian coproduction and stars Mikael Persbrandt, William Jøhnk Nielsen, Markus Rygaard, Ulrich Thomsen and Trine Dyrholm.
 

The plot operates on what at first glance seems to be a simple premise: Bullying at school. However, once the viewer becomes immersed in the story, the plot deepens and becomes more inclusive of a general consideration of what is violence, why do human beings become violent and what the consequences of violent acts are, even those violent acts that seem to be somehow “justifiable”. There are several subplots involving prejudice, vengeance, civil war, family relationships, death, friendship and society attitudes to a number of sensitive issues.
 

Anton is a doctor who lives in a small town in Denmark, but works at an African refugee camp, commuting frequently between these two places. Anton and his wife Marianne, also a doctor, have two young sons and are separated, thinking through the possibility of divorce following an incident of infidelity by Anton. Their older, ten-year-old son Elias is being bullied at school because of his Norwegian background and because he wears tooth braces. A new boy comes to the school, Christian, has just moved from London with his father, Claus. Christian’s mother recently died of cancer, and Christian is greatly troubled by her death, blaming his father. Elias and Christian quickly bond, and Elias sees in Christian a hero when he beats the school bully and threatens him with a knife. Christian bent upon revenge involves Elias in a dangerous action with potentially fatal consequences. Their friendship is tested and their lives are put in danger. Ultimately, it is their family that guide them through the complexity of human interactions, conflict, violence, vengeance, forgiveness, trust and ultimately what it means to be human and what it means to be a man.
 

Although the acting in this film was outstanding, the acting honours definitely had to go to the two children playing the two schoolfriends, Christian (William Jøhnk Nielsen) and Elias (Markus Rygaard). The two youngsters cope with a raft of sensitive scenes and issues and the direction is faultless, making their performances shine through each difficult scene in a manner that is convincing and utterly realistic. The adult actors are a perfect counterfoil to the children and provide the ideal framework on which the children’s story of self discovery and growth is built. The film takes place in two contrasting locations developing Africa and Denmark, but the action in each locale complements the story perfectly and the two widely differing series of events are merely counterpointing the themes that run commonly between them. The music score by Johan Söderqvist is perfect for the movie and the cinematography by Morten Søborg excellent.
 

This was a challenging and confronting film, all the more because of the involvement of children in situations that test even many adults. It is a poignant and melancholy, but through its ending manages to lift one’s spirit up and the viewer manages to regain some confidence in humanity. Please see this film, it’s excellent!

ART SUNDAY - EDVARD MUNCH

“Illness, insanity, and death were the black angels that kept watch over my cradle and accompanied me all my life.” – Edvard Munch
 
Edvard Munch, (born December 12, 1863, Löten, Norway—died January 23, 1944, Ekely, near Oslo), was a Norwegian painter and printmaker whose intensely evocative treatment of psychological themes built upon some of the main tenets of late 19th-century Symbolism and greatly influenced German Expressionism in the early 20th century. His painting “The Scream” (1893), can be seen as a symbol of modern spiritual anguish.
 
Munch was born into a middle-class family that was plagued with ill health. His mother died when he was five, his eldest sister when he was 14, both of tuberculosis; Munch eventually captured the latter event in his first masterpiece, “he Sick Child” (1885–86). Munch’s father and brother also died when he was still young, and another sister developed mental illness. Munch showed a flair for drawing at an early age but received little formal training. An important factor in his artistic development was the Kristiania Bohème, a circle of writers and artists in Kristiania, as Oslo was then called. Its members believed in free love and generally opposed bourgeois narrow-mindedness. One of the older painters in the circle, Christian Krohg, gave Munch both instruction and encouragement.
 
Munch soon outgrew the prevailing naturalist aesthetic in Kristiania, partly as a result of his assimilation of French Impressionism after a trip to Paris in 1889 and his contact from about 1890 with the work of the Post-Impressionist painters Paul Gauguin and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. In some of his paintings from this period he adopted the Impressionists’ open brushstrokes, but Gauguin’s use of the bounding line was to prove more congenial to him, as was the Synthetist artists’ ambition to go beyond the depiction of external nature and give form to an inner vision. His friend the Danish poet Emanuel Goldstein introduced him to French Decadent Symbolist poetry during this period, which helped him formulate a new philosophy of art, imbued with a pantheistic conception of sexuality.
 
Munch’s own deeply original style crystallised about 1892. The flowing, tortuous use of line in his new paintings was similar to that of contemporary Art Nouveau, but Munch used line not as decoration but as a vehicle for profound psychological revelation. The outraged incomprehension of his work by Norwegian critics was echoed by their counterparts in Berlin when Munch exhibited a large number of his paintings there in 1892 at the invitation of the Union of Berlin Artists. The violent emotion and unconventional imagery of his paintings, especially their daringly frank representations of sexuality, created a bitter controversy. Critics were also offended by his innovative technique, which to most appeared unfinished. The scandal, however, helped make his name known throughout Germany, and from there his reputation spread farther. Munch lived mainly in Berlin in 1892–95 and then in Paris in 1896–97, and he continued to move around extensively until he settled in Norway in 1910.
 
In Norway, Munch painted until his death. In his later paintings Munch showed more interest in nature, and his work became more colourful and less pessimistic. Munch died in Ekely, near Oslo, on Jan. 23, 1944. He left many of his works to the city of Oslo, which built a museum in his honour.
 
The painting above “Melancholy” of 1894-96 is typical of Munch’s mature style. The dark, sombre mood is complemented by the sinuous lines and the pensive, introspective subject is well suited to the artist’s mind-set of a brooding contemplation.

SONG SATURDAY - SOLVEIG'S SONG

“Ever has it been that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation.” - Kahlil Gibran

This morning it looked as Winter had returned once again with gray skies, showers and a chilly edge in the air. Nevertheless, we went out as I had an appointment with my optometrist for an eye examination and then the usual Saturday morning chores and the shopping. In the evening, a cosy dinner in, beautiful music and pleasant conversation…

Here is Edvard Grieg’s “Solveig’s Song” sung by Anna Yuryevna Netrebko (born 18 September 1971). She is a Russian operatic soprano, now holding dual Russian and Austrian citizenship and currently residing in Vienna. She has been nicknamed “La Bellissima” by fans.

Solveig’s Song is sung by Solveig in the fourth act of Edvard Grieg’s “Peer Gynt” Op. 23 was written as incidental music for inclusion in Henrik Ibsen’s play. It premiered along with the play on 24 February 1876 in Christiania (now Oslo). Later, in 1888 and 1891, Grieg extracted eight movements to make two four-movement suites: Suite No. 1, Op. 46, and Suite No. 2, Op. 55.

Solveig’s Song

The winter may pass and the spring disappear
The spring disappear
The summer too will vanish and then the year
And then the year
But this I know for certain: you'll come back again
You'll come back again
And even as I promised you'll find me waiting then
You'll find me waiting then
Oh-oh-oh...

God help you when wand'ring your way all alone
Your way all alone
God grant to you his strength as you'll kneel at his throne
As you'll kneel at his throne
If you are in heaven now waiting for me
In heaven for me
And we shall meet again love and never parted be
And never parted be!
Oh-oh-oh...

SAD SATURDAY

“Many men are melancholy by hearing music, but it is a pleasing melancholy that it causeth; and therefore to such as are discontent, in woe, fear, sorrow, or dejected, it is a most present remedy” - Robert Burton
 
A melancholy Saturday, grey, wet, cold and miserable. We went out for some shopping and to do some routine chores, but we came back home early as the weather was really foul. We watched a movie after lunch and then a quiet evening in.
 
Here is Edvard Grieg’s Holberg Suite, Op. 40 (“From Holberg’s Time: Suite in the Olden Style”), and in particular the fourth movement, “Air”, which is also my favourite. This music was written for the bicentenary Year of Ludvig Holberg’s birth. Ludvig Holberg (1684 -1754) was born in Bergen, and became Professor in Metaphysics, Latin, Literature and History, at the University in Copenhagen. But he is most famous, both today and during Grieg’s time, for writing Comedy, and he is recognized as one of the most important personalities in the Danish-Norwegian joint Literature.
 
The Holberg Suite was finished in August 1884, and the 7^th of December it was performed for the very first time in Bergen. Grieg chose the French baroque dance suite as the music base. But he has put his own personal stamp on the separate movements, so there isn’t the slightest amount of doubt that this is Grieg, in French seventeenth century costume.  The Suite was originally written for the piano, and later arranged by the composer for string orchestra. Enjoy!

STIRRINGS OF SPRING

“Poor, dear, silly Spring, preparing her annual surprise!” - Wallace Stevens

A beautiful fine and warm day today. We took the opportunity to walk by the banks of the Merri Creek. The trees were mainly bare and thrust their naked branches almost defiantly up into the blue of the sky and their fine twigs were like exclamation marks, punctuating their resistance to the wake up call of the strengthening sun. The creek flowed swiftly, its waters grey and one could imagine its coldness despite the sunshine, as the gusts of wind carried some bite.

And yet, the first stirrings of Spring were in the air and the buds were swelling. Some of the first blossoms were out. Flowering gorse bushes with their chrome yellow flowers, the wild onions with exploding sprays of pure white bells, the oxalis with lemony yellow blooms expressing the acidity of the plant’s sap. The humble speedwell with its delicate light blue flower echoing the wintry blue sky, the majestic wattle – all green and golden, and the rich purple and lilac of the wild pea looking like bright paint drops on the verdant green of awakening vegetation. Here a clump of fragrant violets, a happy garden escapee, there a deep blue Salvation Jane (or Patterson’s Curse, if you must!).

We needed the walk after visiting our friend in the nursing home again. She was feeling poorly today and was grateful for our visit, even though her weakening mind was filled with confusion and fuzziness.

For Song Saturday, a song by Edvard Grieg, “Våren” which is about a dying man and his view on his last spring. It is sung by Sissel, a fine Norwegian soprano. This is an rare perfomance from 2001. In the period between 1877 - 1880, Grieg produced a set of songs as his Op. 33 on texts by a man some called the peasant-poet of Norway, Aasmund Vinje (1818 - 1870).

ART SUNDAY - MUNCH

“Parting is all we know of heaven and all we need to know of hell.” - Emily Dickinson

Edvard Munch, born on December 12th, 1863 in Löten, Norway and died January 23rd, 1944, was a Norwegian artist whose highly evocative treatment of psychological themes was built on late 19th-century Symbolism. His work greatly influenced German Expressionism in the early 20th century. His most famous painting, “The Scream” (or sometimes called “The Cry” of 1893), can be seen as a symbol of modern spiritual anguish.

Munch was born into a middle-class family that was plagued with sickness and death. His mother died when he was five, his eldest sister when he was 14, both of tuberculosis; Munch eventually depicted the death of his sister in his first masterpiece, “The Sick Child” (1885–86). Munch’s father and brother also died when he was still young, and another sister developed mental illness. “Illness, insanity, and death,” as he said, “were the black angels that kept watch over my cradle and accompanied me all my life.”

Munch assimilated French Impressionism after a trip to Paris in 1889 and his contact from about 1890 with the work of the Post-Impressionist painters Paul Gauguin and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. In some of his paintings from this period he adopted the Impressionists’ open brushstrokes, but Gauguin’s use of the bounding line was to prove more congenial to him, as was the Synthetist artists’ ambition to go beyond the depiction of external nature and give form to an inner vision.

The artist’s own style fully developed about 1892. The flowing use of line in his new paintings was similar to that of contemporary Art Nouveau but Munch used line not as decoration but as a vehicle for psychological expression. This outraged Norwegian critics and was echoed by their counterparts in Berlin when Munch exhibited a large number of his paintings there in 1892. The violent emotion of his paintings, their frank representations of sexuality, and his innovative technique (with paintings which most people found looking unfinished) created a scandal, which helped make his name known throughout Germany, and from there his reputation spread farther. Munch lived mainly in Berlin in 1892–95 and then in Paris in 1896–97, and he continued to move around extensively until he settled in Norway in 1910.

Munch joined the revolt against naturalistic 19th-century academic painting and also went beyond the naturalism still inherent in Impressionism. His concentration on emotional essentials sometimes led to radical simplifications of form and an expressive use of colour. A number of younger artists, followed his lead and created the school of German Expressionism. His work continues to be relevant as it highlights the typically modern situation of the individual facing the uncertainty of a rapidly changing contemporary world.

Above is his “Separation” of 1900 (Oil on canvas 125.5 x 190.5 cm).  I find this an extremely evocative and expressive painting of a situation most of us have faced and had emotional experiences of. A lover clutches his heart with a red hand, as though it is alight with the flames that consume his breast. His eyes are closed and we see through their blind vision, his beloved fleeing away, like a shade departing for the other life. The painting could have just as well have been called “Orpheus and Euridice” or “Romeo and Juliet”, or “Tristan and Isolde”. The use of colour is particularly striking, with the deathly green of the lover and the distant sunny yellow of remembered happinesses colouring the beloved’s shade. In the foreground a reddish orange vegetative form is like an ever-burning fire of love that mirrors the fires in the heart of the lover. The greys, blues, olives and black of the background set the mournful tones of the scene. It is separation, indeed!

OLD AGE IN SPRING

“To know how to grow old is the master-work of wisdom, and one of the most difficult chapters in the great art of living.” - Henri Amiel

Old age is something that we have to come to terms with if we survive long enough. Sickness is one of its attendant misfortunes and for some of us, these two ills will cause much pain and sorrow. What is the best season to die for an old sick man? Spring I think, for to die in such a glorious time of the year surrounded by the blooming flowers, birdsong, the warming sun and the promise of so much life bursting forth after the dead winter surely is a promise of a victory of life over death, of joy over despair, of healing over sickness?

Here is Edvard Grieg’s “Våren” or “Last Spring”. It rejoices in spring, but it is to be a last spring, for the poet knows that he will see no other. Between 1877 and 1880, Grieg produced a set of songs as his Op. 33 on texts by the so-called “peasant-poet” of Norway, Aasmund Vinje (1818-1870). The composer had been greatly inspired by the then-late poet’s verses, so much so that after completing the set, he decided to arrange two of its songs for string orchestra, this one The Last Spring and The Wounded Heart. The last Spring is a hauntingly beautiful and sad piece of music, but are not our sweetest songs, the saddest also?

The singer is the Norwegian singing sensation Sissel, who sings this song in a disarmingly simple and straightforward manner without a trace of sentimentality. Enjoy it!