Awakening men in lightstream
The Aula's most experimental painting
Listen to the text:
Edvard Munch's painting Awakening men in the lightstream hangs to the left of the famous painting The Sun in the University Aula.
The figures are rising sequentially from a recumbent position to embrace the light where the rays of the sun hit the side panels.
The figures are rendered in dissonant colors and rivulets of diluted paint. Munch deliberately incorporated such "accidents" to suggest his spontaneity.
Munch used unconventional techniques when he decorated the Aula, and these are most visible in this painting.
Details
- Technique and material: Oil on canvas
- Date: 1914–1916
- Dimensions: 455 x 305 cm
- Woll: 1222
- UiO.K: 01404
Edvard Munch's Aula paintings
The decoration of the University Aula in Oslo was among Edvard Munch's most comprehensive art projects, and a prestigious and controversial assignment in its time.
The 11 pictures are the only expressionist monumental paintings preserved in their original context. The motifs show the university's activities and history, enlightenment and the great, eternal forces of nature and mankind.
The Aula decoration is part of UiO's art collection.