“Girls on the Bridge” by Edvard Munch was in fact a series of paintings of the same subject with minor variations between each individual piece. After research, it is unclear whether the ekphrastic poem by Derek Mahon was inspired solely by the image printed in “Voices in the Gallery,” by another work from the series, or by the series as a whole. Regardless, we will focus our analysis on the specific painting presented in the textbook. This work of art was completed in 1905 using oil on canvas and measures 126 x 126 centimeters. Upon research, the exact title of the painting could not be verified. The textbook refers to the Munch work as “Girls on the Bridge,” but the official website of the museum which houses it, the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, documents the title as “Girls on a Pier.” I believe this may be due to a translation issue, since Munch was Norwegian and the original title was in his native language. However, this ambiguity does not affect the power and implication of the image itself. Munch painted this piece in his typical Expressionist style, which employs distorted perspective, bold streaks of color, and swirling brushstrokes with the goal of expressing emotional experience rather than physical reality. In “Girls on the Bridge,” the road swirls into the background in a way that is reminiscent of Munch’s “The Scream” painted 14 years earlier. The vanishing point of the road along with the strong diagonal composition created by the railing of the bridge draws the viewer’s eye up the road and off the canvas. This seems to subtly pose the question, what is down the road? Three of the girls on the bridge peer into the reflective fjord; the water’s dark, reflective surface appears very still and untouchable which adds an eerie quality to the image. The girl in the foreground has no facial features, which is typical of the distorted reality of expressionist paintings. This makes the figure generic and relatable, and forces the audience to focus on the over arcing themes of the painting rather than the personal stories of each of the figures. The mood is calm but ominous and seems to stress the theme that as one familiar thing comes to an end- night falls, the road bends, adolescents grow older- the future of what lies ahead is unknown and threatening.
