Munch Museet (Munch Museum)

Location of and Exhibition in the Museum

So, continuing my review of my short trip in Oslo, this part is about the Munch Museum that is located not so far from the town's center. Actually, this place is closer to the Operaen, and if you take a walk you can see a lot of local shops and also some classic Norwegian buildings on the way here.

I loved the museum, there were art sculptures of Gauguin and many many paintings of Munch and other painters. The exhibition concentrated on the work of the Symbolist Norwegian painter, whose most famous painting is the 'Scream'. Many of the paintings were dealing with human behaviour and different stages in a person's life.

Vietnam, Song My Attica

However, the artwork that I found the most amazing, was in the last room, the painting 'Vietnam, Song My Attica' by Slettemark. I think it is an extremely strong artwork with a firm meaning, it depicts then-president Nixon, drinking a cup of coffee, with blood stains dropping from his lips.

It is a direct way of protesting against the war in Vietnam, that was a very violent period at that time, and the backlash against this war was quite evident, even in the USA itself, not only by pacifists, but wide parts of the population. Also, not to mention that the ascending power of television and the media at that exact period, and the transmition of the violent incedents that happened in Vietnam, enraged many parts of the worldwide population, with many protests taking place. One of them included Slettemark, who with this painting, managed to sum up all this frustration and rejection against violent acts. Anyway, it's just my personal opinion about this matter, I don't know if it's right or wrong, but I think that nonetheless, this artwork has a lot of sense and is quite powerful.

Tips:

• To enter the museum, you have to leave your stuff at the locker rooms downstairs.
• The price for the entrance was a bit high, but I strongly believe it's worth it.
• There is this cute coffee shop inside that is quite interesting when it comes to its decoration and furniture, you should check it out, while you're reading the museum flyers or info about your next destination.

Last but not least, as most of modern museums nowadays, there is a shop that sells various stuff like books, shirts and even mugs or pens, that have munch paintings stamped on them. I wouldn't suggest spending money because they are pretty expensive. Nevertheless, you surely could buy a small reminiscent to remember your visit there.

Concluding my short review, I strongly suggest visiting this museum, I think it's very well organized and has pretty well know pieces of art.

Enjoy the pictures.