Munch-y business

During a recent trip to New York, I managed to escape business long enough to check out an exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art: “Edvard Munch: The Modern Life of the Soul.” Phenomenal.

Everyone knows the Scream, Munch’s most popular work. But that represents only one side of his art. Some of his stuff is very erotic, and there are plenty of angst-ridden pieces, too.

I particularly liked his portrait of Ibsen in a Cafe, his Madonna 1895-1902 and the three-painting series The Kiss, where the lovers dissolve into each other over the course of the three works. Very nice.

While there, I drifted through the entire collection. A few pieces that popped out at me:

• Dana Schultz’s “Presentation.” Very odd and disturbing. Almost seemed like a piece that could be produced by a Latin American artist …
• Francis Bacon’s Painting. 1946. Not hard to see the post-war vibe ripping through this one. The meat imagery also appeals to the inner Atkins-ite in me.