Evening, Melancholy

Munch had learnt to make drypoints in 1894 for financial reasons (prints were easier to sell and cheaper than paintings while also having potentially a larger audience and clientele), and he printed his first colour lithographs and woodcuts in 1896. As an artist he had a rare ability to master various printmaking techniques at the same time.

Munch’s use of woodcut was innovative, in that he began to exploit the structure of the wood itself, thus emphasizing the inherent expressiveness of the material. His woodcuts had a marked influence on later artists, especially the German Expressionists, and they did much to foster a revival of the technique. From the time he made his first prints, the prints and the paintings largely fed off one another.