Munch Signature

UNDERSTANDING MUNCH AND
THE ART AT THE TURN OF THE CENTURIES
BETWEEN THE MUSEUM AND THE LABORATORY

Date and Venue
Salt in Munch Painting

Welcome

The art of Edvard Munch still amazes, intrigues and advances important questions about the emotional landscape of humankind. Housed in a brand new building in Bjørvika (Oslo city centre), the entire collection that the artist bequeathed to the City of Oslo is an important asset for the cultural heritage of Norway but also for the modern art world widely, conveying different types of art materials and techniques. It offers also an unique opportunity to investigate the complex mechanisms and patterns of degradation of modern art materials and their interaction with the environment.

This international conference is the final dissemination action of the research project: THE SCREAM - "Touchstone for Heritage Endangered by Salt Crystallization: a Research Enterprise on the Art of Munch" (2018-2022; FCT-ALT20-03-0145-FEDER-031577) funded by FCT in Portugal. A joint venture between the research team of MUNCH and the group at the HERCULES Centre from Evora University in Portugal, the project brings into study 15 of the sketches Munch created for the mural paintings of Aula Magna at the University of Oslo.

Painting Analysis in Museum

The main aim of the conference is to create a platform of shared knowledge between Humanities and Applied Sciences, focusing on the art of Munch and of contemporary artists at the turn between centuries. The themes to be addressed in the 6 proposed sessions are:

  • Art historical research and authentication studies on Munch and his contemporary artists
  • Modelling and technical art history research on modern painting materials
  • Conservation and restoration studies on modern paintings
  • Ageing and degradation mechanisms in modern painting materials
  • Historical art reference collections and their study
  • Museum education and digital innovation for dissemination of scientific research

The interdisciplinary and international context of the conference is underlined not only by the presence of recognized specialists in these fields of research but also by allowing the participation of a wide range of theoreticians and practitioners, including art historians, conservator-restorers as well as conservation scientists and museum educators.

Therefore, the conference intends to launch an innovative, holistic insight on the historical background of modern art at the turn of the centuries, the characterization of art-objects and phenomena of degradation and deterioration the art-objects are subject to and the way we can further preserve them while also sharing them to the wider public.

On behalf of the Organizing Committee, we wish to welcome you to this international event, to be held in a delightful Norwegian town, where Edvard Munch creative genious was born and developed a unique way of expression.

Main Chairs: Irina Sandu & Antonio Candeias
Co-chairs: Erika Sandbakken & Sara Valadas

MUNCH Museet HERCULES Laboratory Nasjonalmuseet Univesity of Oslo Norwegian University of Science and Technology