Tale ved åpningen av jubileumsutstillingen Munch 150

Holdt 1. juni 2013, Universitetes aula, Oslo.
(Det talte ord gjelder).

Your royal highness, your excellencies, dear everyone.

Edvard Munch is not only Norway's but one of the world’s most renowned artists. This year we celebrate him and his art. And with this exhibition, we get the historic opportunity to see the full scale of Munhc’s artwork.

During a year of celebrating an artist whom we admire so much, we can also ask what we can learn from him. I would like to share three important perspectives I think Munch has given us.

Firstly: The artists who make the greatest difference, are those who redefine art.
I think all of us at some point have a tendency to overrate our own judgment of quality. Especially if we are facing someone who is pushing the border of our imagination, we do not always recognize quality. Sometimes we realize only in retrospect.

After a while, Munch’s contemporaries saw his greatness. But still, nor he or anyone else during his lifetime, were able to imagine that his art would make such a huge difference, be such an important influence and gather all of us to celebrate his 150^th anniversary. But then again - this our only way of writing history: Backwards and in hindsight.

Today there are large Munch collections all over the world: the impressive Epstein family collection in the United States, the collection of the Kunsthaus Zürich in Switzerland and many others. His work is exhibited everywhere and he is portrayed as a pioneer of modern art.

But as every new exhibition shows us: We have a lot of new things to learn about and from him. Munch redefines how we understand art again and again.

The second thing we can learn from Munch, it that developing as an artist takes time. For parts of his career, Munch did not belong to the circle of accepted artists. But along his path, Munch met artists, art schools and groups who saw him and gave him their support. This affected Munch's choices and it affected his art.

This tells us that talent goes a long way. But no matter how talented someone is: they all need someone to believe in them.

Of this, we can learn that it is of vital importance that we give today’s artists the time and space they need to develop their artistry.

The third thing we can learn from Munch, is that a scandal or two, or even more, can be rather useful.

It is widely known that Munch was an anxious man. From time to time, he suffered. And his nerves often kept him out of the public sphere.

But we also know that this description of his character is but a fraction of the truth. On the contrary, Munch was pretty conscious about his reputation and public appearance. He wanted to create important art. And he also believed in his abilities to do so.

So when his name made headlines and scandals emerged, he saw the chance of dragging attention to his work. And so he did, whether it be galleries protesting and closing their doors, or newspapers belittling his paintings.

Munch valued even the harshest attention. Because it made indifference impossible. And he probably also saw the commotion as a sign of being on his way to the goal of his life: To change art from within.

We’ll never know what Munch himself would think of the turmoil and disagreement on where to locate the future Munch-museum, that we have seen for the last ten years. But perhaps the painter, the artist, and the scandal maker Munch, would not be entirely uncomfortable with being the centre of attention yet again.

I would like to congratulate Oslo and Norway on getting a majority vote on the location of the new Munch museum. Again we can conclude that art has a defining significance for our society. And with the new Munch Museum, and the new National museum, which we will start building this year, and this year’s magnificent exhibition, we are moving into a brand new era for Munch.

We are now opening the broadest presentation of Munch's work ever shown.

I hereby declare the exhibition on Munch 150 as open.