Man in the Cabbage-Field, 1916 Oil on canvas, 136 x 180 cm ©
Nasjonalmuseet / Munch-museet / Munch-Ellingsen-gruppen / BONO
2010. Foto: Jacques Lathion / Nasjonalmuseet With its lush
colours and monumental grandeur, this depiction of a farmer
harvesting his produce and of the fundamental needs of life has
acquired central significance among the works of Munch’s later
period. After many years without a fixed abode in Europe, Munch
returned to settle permanently in his native country in 1909. In
1916 he bought the rural property Ekely just outside Kristiania
(Oslo), where he lived until his death in 1944. The house had a
large garden that had formerly been used as an agricultural
nursery. The verdant surroundings with farmers at work, horses
and fields quickly spawned a series of motifs that were crucial
to Munch’s work in this period. The simple composition of this
picture, its light colours and rough brushstrokes have a lot in
common with Munch’s paintings for the university auditorium in
Kristiania. The man