Emin examines grief and loss with her ‘friend in art’ Munch
BRITISH ARTIST LOOKS TO NORWEGIAN GREAT FOR INSPIRATION IN ROYAL ACADEMY SHOW
TRACEY EMIN, the British artist who gained both fame and notoriety for her 1999 work, My Bed, and the Norwegian expressionist, Edvard Munch, whose The Scream is one of the most iconic images of art, might seem like an odd couple.
But in the Royal Academy’s (RA) latest exhibition, The Loneliness of the Soul, Emin has interspersed 26 of her works, including paintings, neons and sculptures, with 18 oil paintings and watercolours by Munch.
She was apparently greatly influenced by him during her impressionable early years.
According to the RA, “in her formative years as an artist, Emin was drawn to the expressionism of paintings by both Edvard Munch and Egon Schiele, their concerns in exploring the complex human condition and tortured psyche echoing many of her own burgeoning tendencies.
“In particular, Munch’s confrontation and exploration of emotions in his work had an enduring appeal to Emin, who saw him as ‘a friend in art’, and as early as 1982 was directly referencing the artist in her work.
“The Loneliness of the Soul focuses on themes of grief, loss and longing. Emin has focused on a group of Munch’s works which explore his complex relationship with the female sex,” it added.
“Early tragic events, including the death of his mother when he was only five years old, followed a few years later by his beloved sister, and then a series of doomed love affairs, all contributed to this uneasy connection. The works on display highlight his fascination with the depiction of women, their emotional states and the process of ageing.”
Emin, 57, has been commendably open about the bladder cancer which claimed her mother’s life at the age of 88 in October 2009 and which she feared would kill her as well.
After undergoing an operation this summer, she told one newspaper: “It was squamous cell cancer, which means it’s really rapid, really aggressive. It’s known as bad cancer. My mother died of the same cancer.”
Emin had been working on a semi-abstract painting early in lockdown that had been “keeping her up at night”. Only after her diagnosis did she realise it resembled her bladder.
“It’s exactly the same as my bladder with the tumour in it, before I knew I had the cancer – it’s brilliant!” she quipped.
Getting back to work after her operation had not been easy, she admitted. One day, “I was crying because I wanted to paint and I didn’t have the energy to do it”.
Emin first attracted attention in 1995 by putting up a square tent, entitled Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963–1995. Inside were the appliquéd names of, literally,
everyone she had ever slept with, but not all of them in the sexual sense. There was her grandmother, for example.
More controversy followed with My Bed, which was exhibited at the Tate in 1999 as one of the shortlisted works for the Turner Prize.
The piece is said to be Emin’s record of several days spent in bed in the grip of depression. The bed is unmade and the sheets are stained. All around are strewn a variety of items such as condoms, contraceptive pills, underwear stained with menstrual blood, money, and cigarette ends.
But art is often defined by the price fetched at auction, and My Bed sold at auction at Christie’s in July 2014 for £2,546,500. Charles Saatchi, the collector, who had previously bought it for £150,000, installed the bed in a dedicated room in his own home.
Munch (1863-1944) painted The Scream in 1893. Its original title in German is Der Schrei der Natur (The Scream of Nature). In Norwegian, it is shorter – Skrik (Shriek).
Indeed, the conservative minded might want to do just that, for there is no disguising the fact that Emin is an acquired taste. But the Royal Academy does like to challenge people with its ideas of just what is art.
“An intimate exploration of the body as a battleground is equally recognisable in works by Emin Like Munch, she is also unafraid to examine the impact of events in her own life through her work…. Indeed, Emin’s paintings have long been a compellingly powerful expression of her inner life and psychological state,” the RA said.
More traditional visitors might leave with the thought that there is more to Emin than might first meet the eye, and it is not always a bad idea to step outside one’s comfort zone.
Tracey Emin/Edvard Munch: The Loneliness of the Soul is at the Gabrielle Jungels-Winkler Galleries at the Royal Academy in London until February 28, 2021.
The RA is open once more, though visitors are required to buy tickets online in advance and will be admitted only at their allotted times.