Girls on the Bridge _{(Edvard Munch, Expressionism)}

Girls on the Bridge is regarded as one of Munch's most harmonious and lyrical pictures - though not without erotic undertones. The three girls are peering down into the water where the large tree - which can be interpreted as a phallic symbol - mirrors itself in the summer night.

In this painting, a few simple shapes-blocky houses, a spherical tree, and a white fence-anchor the image of three girls in long dresses who look out over the water. The road behind them wavers uneasily as it joins the shoreline before climbing the hill. In Munch's paintings, distortions of the landscape are reminders that perception can be altered by one's mood. The steep perspective pulls the pier into the picture plane, establishing a connection between the viewer and the girls. The ambience of the painting has been described as lyrical, mysterious, nostalgic, ominous, elegiac, haunting, and tense.

Munch's Other Works