Goya and Munch Converge in Oslo Exhibition

The MUNCH Museum in Oslo presents "Goya and Munch: Modern Prophecies," running from October 28, 2023, to February 11, 2024. The exhibition explores how Francisco de Goya's fantastical and unsettling works, created in response to war, social pressures, and hypocrisy, served as a theoretical and technical resource for European modernists contemporary with Edvard Munch. Although the museum acknowledges difficulty confirming direct inspiration, it notes that both artists shared clear artistic interests and that many of Munch's friends and colleagues enthusiastically championed Goya as a modernist precursor. The show features a wide selection of drawings, prints, and paintings by both artists, including the complete series of Goya's "Disasters of War" and "Los Caprichos." Loans come from the British Museum, National Gallery in London, Museo del Prado, Museo Lázaro Galdiano in Madrid, Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the National Museum of Oslo. The exhibition highlights parallels in how the two masters addressed themes of society, war, faith, and superstition, demonstrating the enduring relevance of their work.