Seashore near Lübeck

In May 1907 Munch came to the German Baltic coast after months of restless moving between Berlin, Lübeck and Weimar, hunting for a quiet place by the sea. This shore near Lübeck belongs to that spring. He was painting the beaches and open water of the north in a loose, dragged hand, the paint pulled thin over the weave, the horizon set high and almost bare. There is little incident here, just water, sand and sky worked quickly, the kind of empty coast he had gone looking for. He stayed on the Baltic about 18 months, working hard on bathing scenes and landscapes, before his nerves gave way in the autumn of 1908.