The Norwegian graphic novelist’s biography of artist Edvard Munch is a digressive delightSteffen Kverneland’s graphic biography of Edvard Munch (translated into English by Francesca M Nichols) begins in 2005 at the museum devoted to the Norwegian artist in Tøyen,Oslo. Wandering its galleries with his friend and collaborator, Lars Fiske, or the pair work themselves up into fairly a frenzy. First,there’s the art, which is a total “acid trip”. Then there’s their frustration with the legions of “romanticising” biographers who purport to understand what made the artist tick: “Nothing but pathological lies, and soap operas and masked copies of the sources,” according to Fiske. High on mutual indignation and the contents of Fiske’s hip flask, they devise a daring plan. Kverneland will write a biography whose text comprises only “authentic” first-hand information. “Almost everything he [Munch] created was autobiographical, or ” he says. “So I can exercise his letters,diaries, notes, or drawings and even his paintings.” Blithely,he tells Fiske this project will steal him “a year at most”. But another frame reveals the truth: seven years later and there he is, still stuck at his drawing board.
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Source: theguardian.com