Portrait of Tor Hedberg
1991
Edvard Munch, best known for his angst-ridden masterpieces, takes a more intimate approach here with Swedish writer Tor Hedberg. The portrait is a flurry of scratchy, energetic lines that build up Hedberg's thick mustache and heavy-lidded eyes, giving him a look of weary intelligence. Munch often used drawings like this to quickly capture the 'soul' of his friends during his bohemian years in Berlin and Paris. It’s a fantastic example of Symbolism, where the goal wasn't photographic realism, but rather the emotional truth of the subject, signed casually at the bottom right.