“The Sick Child is one of Munch’s earliest works, considered by the artist “a breakthrough” for setting the tone for his early career in which death, loss, anxiety, madness, and the preoccupations of a troubled soul were his chief subject matter. Devoted to his deceased sister, Johanne Sophie, the painting depicts the bedridden fifteen-year-old with a grieving woman beside her, the latter probably a representation of Munch’s mother who had preceded Sophie in death, also from tuberculosis, eleven years prior. The rough brushstrokes, scratched surface, and melancholic tones of this painting all reveal a highly personal memorial. The work was highly criticized for its “unfinished appearance” when first exhibited, but nonetheless championed by Munch’s spiritual mentor, Hans Jæger, as a masterful achievement.”

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