An expert’s guide to Edvard Munch: five must-read books on the Norwegian Expressionist

The article presents a curated reading list on Edvard Munch, compiled by Trine Otte Bak Nielsen, a curator at the Munch Museum in Oslo. The list includes five key books: Ali Smith's essay "So in the Spruce Forest" (2025), Gerd Woll's catalogue raisonné "Edvard Munch: Complete Paintings" (2009), "Living Lines: Five Contemporary Artists on Edvard Munch's Drawings" (2021) edited by Halvor Haugen, Rolf E. Stenersen's biography "Edvard Munch: Close-up of a Genius" (1944/2013), and Stanislaw Przybyszewski's "Das Werk Des Edvard Munch" (1894). The selection coincides with the museum's exhibition "Lifeblood: Edvard Munch," which explores the artist's work through themes of health and sickness.