Edvard Munch Alpha and Omega

Edvard Munch was plagued by psychological problems, and in 1908 he was committed to a clinic in Copenhagen due to a nervous breakdown following an excessive drinking binge. There he transformed his sickbed into a studio, completing works that included the portfolio Alpha and Omega. Its narrative deals with the first human couple, who live on an island. Their paradise is soon destroyed by Omega’s love for the island’s other inhabitants. In the end, Alpha kills his wife and is himself murdered by her descendants from other partners. In this bitterly dark parable, Munch was processing disappointing romantic relationships, but he was also carrying out a reckoning with the open sexual mores of the circle of artists in the Kristiania bohème by caricaturing personal adversaries like Gunnar Heiberg as lecherous, animalistic creatures.

 

In this exhibition, it has been possible to present 10 motifs as well as a table of contents, whose composition is also the work of Munch; in total, the series encompasses 18 motifs. It was suggested to Munch that he supplement his work with a text, in order to make it easier to understand. This led him to create the following prose poem, which Munch wrote in Norwegian and French and which first appeared in a catalogue of his prints in 1913.

 

 

1 (not exhibited)

Alpha and Omega were the first human beings on the island.

Alpha, lying on the grass, fell asleep and dreamed.

Omega approached him, saw him, and was full of curiosity.

Omega plucked a frond of fern, tickled him and woke him.

 

2

Alpha loved Omega.

Evenings they sat pressed tightly one against the other,

looking at the column of moonlight shimmering on the sea which surrounded

Edvard Munch, Mondaufgang
Edvard Munch
Mondaufgang

 

3

They plunged into the woods, and in the woods

there was an abundance of animals and strange plants.

A mysterious darkness reigned, but there were also many delightful little flowers.

Once Omega was frightened and flung hersel f for shelter into the arms of Alpha.

For many days the isle was bathed in sunlight.

Edvard Munch, Der Wald
Edvard Munch
Der Wald

 

4

One day Omega was lying at the edge of the woods;

Alpha was sitting farther in the forest in the shade.

Then an enormous cloud rose from the ocean, spread across the sky,

and covered the isle with its shadow.

.

Alpha called Omega, but heard nothing.

Then Alpha saw that Omega was holding the head of a serpent between her hands

as she looked into its scintillating eyes –

an enormous serpent which had slithered up the length of her body among the ferns.

Suddenly rain fell from the sky and Alpha and Omega were terrified.

Edvard Munch, Die Wolke
Edvard Munch
Die Wolke

 

5 (not exhibited)

One day when Alpha came upon the serpent in the field,

he fought with it and killed it,

while Omega watched from a distance.

 

6

Once she met the bear.

Omega thrilled when she felt the bear’s soft coat against her body.

When she put her arm around his neck, her arm disappeared in the thick fur.

Omega discovered a hyena-poet whose coat was threadbare.

Her customary words of love failed to move him.

Then, with her soft, little hands she twined a wreath of laurel and,

moving her small, gentle face towards his sullen head – she crowned him.

Edvard Munch, Der Bär
Edvard Munch
Der Bär

 

7 (not exhibited)

The tiger pushed his cruel and ferocious head close to the gentle, little head of Omega.

Omega did not shudder;

she let her li ttle hand rest in the jaws of the tiger and caressed his teeth.

 

8 (not exhibited)

When the tiger came upon the bear, he sensed the odor of Omega,

the scent of the pale apple-flower which Omega kissed every morning at sunrise.

They fought and tore each other apart.

All at once, as if on a chessboard (which had not yet been invented),

the pieces changed place.

Omega curled up against Alpha.

Curious, and without comprehending anything,

the other animals stretched their necks and watched the game.

 

9 (not exhibited)

Omega’s eyes were inconstant.

Ordinarily they were a clear blue, but whenever she looked at her lovers,

those eyes became black with flashes of carmine

– and then she instinctively hid her mouth with a flower.

 

10 (not exhibited)

Omega’s Eyes

 

11

Omega’s heart was fickle.

One day Alpha saw her sitting by the river, kissing an ass which was lying on her lap.

So Alpha went to find the ostrich and embraced her neck,

but Omega never raised her eyes from her precious business of kissing

Edvard Munch, Omega und das Reh
Edvard Munch
Omega und das Reh

 

12

Omega felt tired – and sick of not being able to have all the beasts of the isle;

she sat down on the grass all in tears.

Edvard Munch, Omega weint
Edvard Munch
Omega weint

 

13

Then she rose, wandered over the island, and met the swine.

She got down on her knees and hid her body in her long black hair

–and she and the swine surveyed each other.

Edvard Munch, Omega und das Schwein
Edvard Munch
Omega und das Schwein

 

14

But Omega became bored.

One night while the golden ray of the moon shimmered on the water,

she fled on the back of a buck across the sea to the bright green country beneath the moon.

Alpha remained alone on the isle.

Edvard Munch, Omegas Flucht
Edvard Munch
Omegas Flucht

 

15

One day the children of Omega came to him;

a strange brood had sprouted upon the isle.

They gathered around Alpha, whom they called their father.

There were swinelets, viperlets, apelets, wild little beasts,

and other bastards of the race of man.

He gave up all hope.

Edvard Munch, Alphas Nachkommen
Edvard Munch
Alphas Nachkommen

 

16 (not exhibited)

He ran along the seashore.

The sky and the sea were stained with blood.

He heard cries in the air and covered his ears.

The earth, the sky, and the sea shook, and he suffered terrible anguish.

 

17 (not exhibited)

One day the buck brought Omega back.

Alpha was sitting on the beach, and she came toward him.

Alpha felt his blood rushing and the muscles of his body distending

- and he hit Omega so hard that i t killed her. As he bent over the dead one and saw her face,

he was horrified by her expression.

It was the same expression she had had in the forest at the moment he loved her most.

 

18

While he was still staring down, he was attacked from behind

by all her children and the animals of the isle, who tore him to pieces.

The strange new brood glutted the isle.

Edvard Munch, Alphas Tod
Edvard Munch
Alphas Tod