Karl Ove Knausgård Curates Rare Edvard Munch Works in Oslo Exhibition

Norwegian author Karl Ove Knausgård curated the summer exhibition at the Munch Museum in Oslo, aiming to make viewers experience Edvard Munch's work as if for the first time. Titled 'Towards the Forest: Knausgård on Munch,' the exhibition ran from June 5 to August 10, 2017. Knausgård selected seldom-shown pieces from Munch's vast bequest to Oslo, which included 1,100 paintings, 4,000 drawings, 18,000 prints, and sculptures. He employed a narrative, writerly approach, filling walls with quotes from both himself and Munch. The show featured experimental and unfinished works, like a life-size elongated figure and a raw sketch titled 'Jealousy.' Organized thematically around forests and nature, it progressed from sunny orchards to contorted trees, with human figures often overwhelmed by their surroundings. A series of woodcuts depicting a naked woman and a formally dressed man walking into trees gave the exhibition its name. Knausgård described art as a search for solace, comparing his writing to Munch's painting as a form of shelter.