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Toward the end of the 19th century, about the same time that Sigmund Freud was investigating unconscious phenomena and the influence of childhood events on the causation of neuroses, a little-known Norwegian artist, Edvard Munch (1863-1944), began expressing his tormented inner world through his artistic creations, giving birth to an art style that would later be known as Expressionism.
It is the purpose of this paper to study the correlation between Munch's early life and his subsequent psychodynamics as revealed in both his life and art. It is our speculation that Edvard Munch's need for transitional objects served as one of the major motivating forces in his creativity.
Although Munch's art was undoubtedly influenced by the artistic, social and political milieu of his time, the major sources of his images were the traumatic scenes and emotional experiences of his childhood. In order to understand Munch and his art, we must first review some of the major events in his life.
Edvard's father, a military physician, was descended from a distinguished Norwegian family whose contributions to Norwegian art, literature and religion had been significant. Edvard also inherited an artistic endowment from both his mother and her sister, his Aunt Karen. They both drew, and involved the Munch