“The Lonely Ones” is an evocative artwork by Edvard Munch, created in 1899. This woodcut is an important piece in the Symbolism art movement and falls under the genre of symbolic painting. It is currently housed in the Albertina museum located in Vienna, Austria. The artwork uses the medium of woodcut to convey profound emotional content, a hallmark of Munch’s artistic endeavors.
The artwork depicts two figures, a man and a woman, who stand apart on a shoreline against a stark, flat background. The space between the figures is palpable, emphasizing their emotional distance. The man faces away from the viewer, looking out to sea, while the woman, seen from the back, gazes downward. Their body language suggests a sense of disconnection or alienation from one another.
The background features horizontal lines that suggest a calm sea or a vast sky, which contrasts with the solid, dark figures. Munch’s use of strong contrasts, with the figures carved out in negative space against the lighter background, amplifies the feeling of isolation. The simplified forms and stark lines are characteristic of the woodcut technique and contribute to the overall mood of introspection and solitude conveyed by the artwork.