Edvard Munch was confronted with death early on. When he was six years old, his mother passed away, and his sister died a few years later. The death of his father, in 1889, plunged him into a deep crisis. Before
this background, it seems logical that Munch repeatedly dealt with death and themes such as fear and grief. In old age, he wrote of the traumatic years of his childhood: “My home was the home of illness and death.
I have never gotten over the calamity there. It has also influenced my art.” The painting The Child and Death is one of Munch’s most searing testimonies to the thematic complex of dying, death, and grief. It shows
a small girl looking out of the picture and holding her ears closed. In the background, we see her deceased mother. It is typical of Munch that he does not deal with the person who dies, but with the psychological
condition of those who remain. The main theme of this painting is the girl’s pain. But rather than expressing it in tears, the child appears terrified. Whereas the figure portrayed in Munch’s famous painting The
Scream also holds her ears closed, and lets out a scream, the small child here is not able to do this.
In 2005, the painting was examined more closely following a request by the Munch-Museet in Oslo. What
had hitherto been regarded as a supporting canvas turned out to be a further painting by the artist. It shows a naked girl seated in profile as well as three threatening, mask-like heads of men. The work may be
viewed in connection with Munch’s treatment of the subject of puberty. Known today as Girl and Three Male Heads, it is still not clear why Munch cast off this work shortly after he had created it. However, he did
not simply overpaint it, but stretched a new canvas over it, producing an entirely new painting.
爱德华·蒙克（ Edvard Munch ）早年面临死亡。他六岁那年，他的母亲去世了，几年后他的妹妹去世了。 1889年父亲去世，使他陷入了严重的危机。在此背景之下，蒙克（Munch）反复处理死亡和恐惧和悲伤等主题似乎是合乎逻辑的。在他晚年的时候，他写了童年的经历：“我的家是生病和死亡的家。我从来没有克服过那里的灾难。它也影响了我的艺术。”画作《孩子与死亡》是蒙克关于死亡，死亡和悲痛的主题情结最令人发指的证词之一。它显示了一个小女孩从图片中向外张望，双耳紧闭。在后面，我们看到了她已故的母亲。蒙克的典型做法是，他不与死亡者打交道，而是与残存者的心理状况打交道。这幅画的主题是女孩的痛苦。但是，孩子没有哭出来，而是表现出恐惧。蒙克（Munch）着名画作《呐喊》（The
Scream）中描绘的人物也闭着耳朵，发出一声尖叫，而这里的小孩却无法做到这一点。
2005年，在奥斯陆蒙克博物馆的要求下，对这幅画进行了更仔细的检查。迄今为止一直被视为支撑画布的东西，后来变成了艺术家的另一幅画。它显示了一个裸体女孩坐在侧面以及三个阴沉沉的、面具似的男人的头。该作品可能与蒙克对青春期的治疗有关。如今人们称之为“女孩和三个男人的头”，但尚不清楚为什么蒙克在创作这部作品后不久就放弃了这部作品。然而，他并没有简单地画得太多，而是在上面画了一幅全新的油画。
