The Facts
On October 1, 2026, the Kunsthaus Zürich announced 'Maria Lassnig and Edvard Munch. Flow of Paint = Flow of Life', the first exhibition to directly relate the works of the Austrian painter Maria Lassnig (1919–2014) and the Norwegian artist Edvard Munch (1863–1944). Running from October 2, 2026, to February 21, 2027, the show features some 150 works exploring themes of body, perception, and the cycle of life. The exhibition is a collaboration with the Hamburger Kunsthalle, initiated by directors Ann Demeester and Alexander Klar, and curated by Hans Dieter Huber, Sandra Gianfreda, and Brigitte Kölle. Notably, the Kunsthaus holds the largest collection of Munch paintings outside Norway, and Lassnig's painting 'Chain of Tradition' (1983), which depicts Velázquez, Munch, and van Gogh, is publicly displayed for the first time after a long absence.
The Signal
The pairing of Lassnig and Munch offers a fresh art-historical perspective, linking Lassnig's introspective 'body awareness pictures' with Munch's existential explorations of life and death. For collectors, the exhibition may boost recognition of Lassnig, whose work remains undervalued compared to Munch's, while reinforcing the Kunsthaus's status as a key Munch repository. The juxtaposition also highlights how Lassnig consciously positioned herself within a painterly lineage, a move that could influence curatorial approaches to 20th-century expressionism.
- Artists: Maria Lassnig, Edvard Munch
- People: Hans Dieter Huber, Sandra Gianfreda, Brigitte Kölle, Peter Pakesch, Ann Demeester, Alexander Klar
- Museums: Kunsthaus Zürich, Hamburger Kunsthalle
- Locations: Zürich
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