Munch vendte attende til røtene sine i Løten, Fredrikstad og Vågå, og han etablerte nye band til Åsgårdstrand, Kragerø, Jeløy, Hvitsten og Ekely i Oslo. På desse stadene etterlet han seg spor, og dei prega også kunstnarskapet hans. Munch vart født i Løten i 1863, mora sin familie kom frå Fredrikstad og farsslekta frå Vågå. Mellom 1885 og 1905 var han nært knytt til Åsgårdstrand. Frå århundreskiftet oppheldt han seg stadig meir i utlandet, men frå 1909 søkte han seg attende til Norge og ulike bustader langs Oslofjorden. Dei fleste romma i husa Munch budde i, fungerte som atelier. Munch omtala ofte bustadene sine som sine «slott». Den siste delen av livet budde han på Ekely i Oslo, som han kjøpte for pengane han fekk for dei store Aulamåleria i Universitetet i Oslo.

Det var besynderlig at være så hos sig
selv – i sit eget Hus. Ingen behøvet at
forstyrre ham – Det var hans Eiendom
– Stort havde det jo ikke kostet
og fint ikke men hans –
og derute i Haven var alle Trærne hans
– Stenene – Fuglende –
– Stranden – og Vandet der
skyllet mod Sten

(skissebok 1903-08)

Kjelder: Munchmuseet, Mine Slott, 2018. Munchmuseet, Som et spøgelse forlader jeg dig. Sitater av Edvard Munch, 2017, s. 55.

MUNCH’S CASTLES

During his long life, Edvard Munch lived in different places – some for shorter, and some for longer periods of time. He returned to his roots in Løten, Fredrikstad and Vågå, and established new bonds with Åsgårdstrand, Kragerø, Jeløy, Hvitsten, and Ekely in Oslo. These are all places on which he left his mark – as they left their mark on his artwork. Munch was born in Løten in 1863; his family on his mother’s side was from Fredrikstad and on his father’s side from Vågå. Between 1885 and 1905, he developed a close connection with Åsgårdstrand. Around the turn of the century he spent long periods abroad, but returned to Norway in 1909 and then lived at various locations along the Oslo Fjord. Wherever he lived, most of his rooms served as a studio. Munch often referred to his homes as his “castles”. He spent the final years of his life at Ekely in Oslo, which was a property he bought with the money he earned from the large paintings made for the Oslo University Aula.

Quote:

It was strange to be alone
at home – in one’s own House.

No one needed to disturb him –
It was his own Property – It had not
cost him a Bundle and it was not
fine, but his –
and out there in the Garden were all
his Trees – Stones – Birds –
the Shore – and the Water that
washed up onto the Stones

(sketchbook 1903-08)

Sources: Munchmuseet, Mine Slott, 2018. Munchmuseet, Som et spøgelse forlader jeg dig. Sitater av Edvard Munch, 2017, s. 55.