Munch's The Kiss: "I try to dissect souls"

Right: The Kiss, 1895. etching

Left: The Kiss, 1897. painting

These are two versions of Munch's "The kiss" that inspired Gustav Klimt's famous painting with the same title.

Some of Munch's quotations explain not only his intentions, and the expressionist attitude, but also distance him from impressionism:

"No longer shall I paint interiors, and people reading, and women knitting. I shall paint living people who breathe and feel and suffer and love."

"Certainly a chair can be just as interesting as a human being. But first the chair must be perceived by a human being... You should not paint the chair, but only what someone has felt about it."

"Just as Leonardo da Vinci studied human anatomy and dissected corpses, so I try to dissect souls."

"I do not paint what I see, but what I saw."

Edward Munch