Still Aching Today

Take a look at this painting. This is Edvard Munch’s The Sick Child (1885-1886). The painting depicts a child and a woman, interpreted by many to be the child’s aunt, together in a room.

Notice the hands: they are the sharpest connection within the painting. Neither person can change what’s happening, but they refuse to let go. This child is Johanne Sophie, Edvard Munch’s one-year-older sister, on her deathbed, after being infected by Tuberculosis. She died at 15.

The woman never looks at the child. Instead of making eye contact, the woman buries her face. Her posture communicates grief more than any facial expression could.

Yet, the child seems strangely calm. While the adult is overcome with emotion, the child appears quiet and accepting, staring into a dark curtain, which many interpret as death.

EDVARD MUNCH PAINTED THIS 6 TIMES.

Art captures what words cannot. He turned his childhood grief into something that still aches today.

Edvard Munch, The Sick Child, 1885-1886. Oil on canvas, 118.5 x 120 cm. Nasjonalmuseet, Oslo. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain).