Beach Landscape with Trees and Boats
1905-06
Edvard Munch, the master of anxiety, actually knew how to relax—sometimes. Painted around 1905, this scene swaps his famous screaming skies for a wobbly, dreamlike beach. A dark, triangular pine tree dominates the front, looking almost like a cutout against the swirling blues and pinks of the shore. Those yellow blobs in the background? They’re likely boats, but they float like abstract ghosts on the water. It’s a perfect example of Symbolism, where Munch stops painting what he sees and starts painting how the ocean *feels*—mysterious and a little bit unstable.