In the manner of Edvard Munch
Norwegian, 1863–1944
Evening on the Sofa, 4,312 Unread, 2026
Oil and tempera on cardboard
91 × 73 cm
Never painted.
Commissioned for the collection, 2026.
PAB 2026.13.3
A pale man lies on a green sofa in a green room, his face lit by the laptop propped on his chest, and every line of the room, walls, ceiling and floor, bends in towards him as if the room itself were leaning in to read. Munch's people are often trapped by the architecture. This one is not trapped. He could get up at any time. He will not.
The brief
A pale man lying alone on a sofa in a green room lit only by a laptop, the screen light on his face, the room lines curving inward toward him, bare walls with nothing hanging on them, no window, no other figure. Norwegian Expressionist painting in thin oil and tempera on rough board, long undulating strokes that bend sky, water and floorboards into waves, sickly blood-orange and deep blue and acid green, one pale mask-like face with hollow eyes and no other faces anywhere, bare cardboard showing through the paint, raw emotional distortion, a sense of dread. Flat frontal reproduction of the painting, the canvas fills the frame edge to edge, even lighting, no frame, no wall, no text.
Written to the house rules. The painter's name does not appear.
Take it home
The painting on this room's wall, at its own proportions, nothing written on it.
