# Evening, Melancholy I

**Edvard Munch** (Norwegian, 1863–1944)  
1896  
Hand-colored woodcut  
Image: 37.7 x 45 cm (14 13/16 x 17 11/16 in.)

Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1959.82. [The museum's record](https://clevelandart.org/art/1959.82).

## About this work

Evening, Melancholy I depicts the jilted, tormented art critic Jappe Nilssen, Munch's friend, on the shore of Åsgårdstrand, a fishing village south of Oslo. Munch chose heavily grained blocks of wood, allowing the pattern of the board to add texture to the scene, and he exploited the handmade aspect of the technique by carving blocks crudely. He also experimented so that each impression is unique, using black ink on the woodblock and watercolor and gouache to color the sheet extensively. An example of how method can reinforce meaning, the simplified shapes, flattened space, and dark hues create a visual correspondence to the figure's deep depression.

_Text from the Cleveland Museum of Art._

Edvard Munch made this in 1896, aged 33. It is now at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

### How it was made

- **Woodcut.** A relief print. The block is cut away around the lines, so the lines stand up to take the ink, and the sheet is pressed onto them.
- **Hand-coloured.** Printed in black, then coloured by hand in watercolour, one sheet at a time.

### [Edvard Munch](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/edvard-munch)

Norwegian, 1863–1944

Munch trained in Kristiania, now Oslo, and spent long periods in Paris and Berlin in the 1890s, where he developed The Frieze of Life, a cycle on love, anxiety and death that includes The Scream. His painting drew on personal loss, including the early deaths of his mother and sister. He also made woodcuts and lithographs of great originality, sawing his blocks into pieces to ink them separately. After a breakdown in 1908 he returned to Norway, where he lived and worked until his death.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Print
- Culture: Norway
- The artist was 33
- Real size: about 15 × 18 in (38 × 45 cm). The 12 × 16 in print is close to life size.
- Century: 19th century
- Colour: brown
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/636.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/636/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/evening-melancholy-i-cma-136154).