Norwegian artist Edvard Munch is the creator of one of the most influential and acclaimed paintings in art history, The Scream. While most people are familiar with his most famous work, a lot of them know little about the artist himself. This is why we prepared some facts about Munch’s life that you will find quite interesting.
Munch Considered Himself a Vegetarian
Around the age of 70, Munch gave up meat, considered himself a vegetarian, and tried to convince his friends to do the same. However, he still consumed fish, which would make him a pescatarian in modern dietary views.
Munch Wasn’t Especially Careful With His Artworks
Most artists take great care of their works, but that wasn’t the case with Munch. He was actually quite loose about the state of his artworks, often placing them in unfavorable conditions and even leaving them outside. This is why a lot of his paintings and drawings have the remains of outside elements.
Munch Was a Huge Fan of Selfies
Munch was particularly fond of photography and loved to experiment with his camera. This included taking a lot of selfies or self-portraits, as they were known back then, which saw him posing alongside his works, in the garden, and even in his bed.
Munch Shot Off Part of His Finger With a Gun
Munch lost part of his left middle finger when he was in his 30s after a gun incident. As the story goes, he was going through some romantic problems and turned to alcohol. After drinking the whole day, he started messing around with a gun and accidentally shot off part of his finger. He underwent amputation following the incident and refused any form of anesthesia as he wanted to remember the procedure so he could paint it.