Description
The Dance of Life by Edvard Munch is an expressionist painting from 1899–1900, held under accession number NG.M.00941 by the Nasjonalmuseet in Oslo: at the centre a couple dances: a man in black and a woman in a red dress that winds around his feet. With us it is made as a hand-painted reproduction in oil, brushed onto canvas; you receive a photograph of the finished work for approval before dispatch, and you choose between ten sizes or a size of your own.
| Title: | The Dance of Life |
| Other titles: | Ples življenja · Ples života · Der Tanz des Lebens · La danza della vita · Az élet tánca |
| Painter: | Edvard Munch (1863–1944) |
| Year: | 1899–1900 |
| Original size: | 191 cm x 125 cm |
| Original technique: | Oil on canvas |
| Painting style: | Expressionism |
| Location: | National Museum (Nasjonalmuseet) in Oslo (NG.M.00941) |
| Our reproduction: | a hand-painted work in oil, ten sizes from 60 x 40 cm to 220 x 145 cm, stretched on a stretcher bar, unframed |
The Dance of Life – Edvard Munch
What is shown?
At the centre a couple dances: a man in black and a woman in a red dress that winds around his feet. Their faces are close but they do not look at each other. A young woman in white stands alone at the left, arms at her sides and head slightly inclined; an older woman in black stands at the right, hands down and face severe and closed. More couples turn in the background, given as dark and coloured planes without detail. Above them runs a band of sea with the moon’s reflection, and above that a pale night sky. The three principal figures stand in a row, almost as on a stage, each occupying its own part of the canvas: white at the left, red at the centre, black at the right. It is that arrangement which makes the scene read more like a tableau than a dance.
What is painted on the original?
The painting is a central work in Munch’s cycle The Frieze of Life, in which he gathered his motifs of love, anxiety and death. The three female figures are usually read as three ages of one woman: the girl in white, the mature woman in red, and the widow in black. That is an interpretation, not something the painter wrote down. Munch repeated the motif later in several versions and counted it among the central works of the cycle; this is the largest and best known of them.
Why does this painting matter?
Expressionism works here not through a story but through what is actually visible on the canvas: munch repeated the motif later in several versions and counted it among the central works of the cycle; this is the largest and best known of them. That is why the work belongs to this painting style and not merely to the period it was made in. Munch used the same approach across a run of works from those years, and this is one of them; what makes it worth looking at is the relation between what is painted precisely and what is left open.
What does the painting mean?
We keep to what is visible. The painting is a central work in Munch’s cycle The Frieze of Life, in which he gathered his motifs of love, anxiety and death. What that means the canvas does not say in words, and that is exactly why the work has stayed open to interpretation. There are no names on the canvas and none in the record we hold; anyone who sees particular people or a particular story in the scene is adding it, and we do not claim it. What is beyond dispute is the arrangement and the colour: what is painted, and nothing further.
Where does the work sit among Munch’s works?
The same painterly approach returns in other Munch works on this shelf: The Sick Child, The Girls on the Bridge, Self-Portrait with Cigarette, Death in the Sickroom. Where exactly this work stands among them is a matter of reading and not of the record; we state only what is on the canvas and in the inventory. The whole range is in the Edvard Munch gallery.
How is our hand-painted version made?
This is a painting on canvas made with brush and oil colour, not with a printer. The painter works from a high-resolution reference and builds the scene from the back forward, layer by layer, so that the transitions between tones stay soft. Because every hand-painted copy is made for its own order, no two match down to the detail; small differences in the laying-on are a mark of the human hand and not a fault. For this work we have no photographs of our own from the workshop, so you will not find any on this page; the photograph of the finished canvas always reaches you for approval before dispatch.
Which size for which wall?
If you are unsure: 130 x 85 cm. The 110 x 72 cm size is the closest of all to the proportion of the original. The format is landscape, so it asks for width, and a narrow wall does not suit it. 60 x 40 cm, 80 x 53 cm, 90 x 60 cm belong in a hallway or among several smaller works, 100 x 66 cm, 110 x 72 cm, 130 x 85 cm are the real painting for the living room or a quiet corner of a bedroom, 150 x 100 cm, 160 x 105 cm, 194 x 129 cm, 220 x 145 cm are for large walls and rooms with enough distance. All ten sizes are made to order; none is held in stock as an already painted work.
Custom size, stretcher bar and frame
If none of the ten sizes suits your wall, we paint to your measurements and keep the proportion of the reference, so the scene is not stretched; that is our painting made to measure. Every example arrives stretched on a wooden stretcher bar, ready to hang; the stretcher bar can be left off at the order. On this page the canvas is offered without a frame; the frame is chosen separately with our 3D application, which shows every one of our frame profiles on this motif. The application is for frame choice only. If you would like to see how the work will look on your own wall, that is our separate room-placement service.
Delivery and guarantee
Every example is made to order in our studio in Slovenia, so allow 15 to 45 days depending on size. We ship it stretched on a wooden stretcher bar and protected for transport, without customs inside the European Union; the frame is not included and is chosen separately with our 3D application, which is for frame choice only. Every canvas painting we make is made the same way, including paintings by famous painters from other periods; we write about Munch’s path in our article on Edvard Munch.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the original?
In National Museum (Nasjonalmuseet) in Oslo, under accession number NG.M.00941. We read the detail on the museum’s own record page.
Who or what is shown in the painting?
At the centre a couple dances: a man in black and a woman in a red dress that winds around his feet. We can name none of the figures: there are no names on the canvas and none in the record we hold.
Is Ples življenja the same work?
Yes. The work is listed under several titles across languages, among them Ples življenja; what identifies it reliably is the accession number, not the title.
Is this a print?
No. The order is painted by hand in oil colour onto canvas; the brushstrokes can be seen and felt.
Which size should I choose?
The 130 x 85 cm size is our recommendation for an ordinary wall. The 110 x 72 cm size is the closest of all to the proportion of the original. For other walls see the guide above.
Can I have a size that isn’t listed?
Yes, we paint to measure and keep the side ratio of the reference.
How is it delivered?
Stretched on the stretcher bar and protected for transport, in 15 to 45 days, once you confirm the photograph of the finished work.
What is the painting about, in one sentence?
In one sentence: it is that arrangement which makes the scene read more like a tableau than a dance.
Is the original for sale and what is it worth?
No. The work is in a public collection and is not for sale; we give no value for it, because we have none from a source we could check. A hand-painted canvas is the one way to have this scene at home.
How high should I hang it?
The centre at eye level, roughly 145–150 cm from the floor; above a sofa 15–25 cm over the back. Because the format is landscape, leave some empty wall at the sides.
Is it suitable as a gift?
As a work of art it is a considered gift; in the middle sizes it arrives stretched and ready to hang. If you would rather leave the choice to the recipient, a gift voucher is available.
- Subject: at the centre a couple dances: a man in black and a woman in a red dress that winds around his feet
- Original: oil on canvas, 1899–1900, 191 cm x 125 cm, National Museum (Nasjonalmuseet) in Oslo, inv. no. NG.M.00941
- Ours: a hand-painted work in oil, ten sizes from 60 x 40 cm to 220 x 145 cm, stretched on a stretcher bar, unframed
- Worth knowing: the original measures 191 cm x 125 cm and its format is landscape
