Drawing on printed and archival sources, including Munch's extensive unpublished writings, Munch's Ibsen provides a comprehensive account of the connection between the two great Norwegian modernists. Situating the interlocking careers of Edvard Munch and Henrik Ibsen within Norway's cultural history, Joan Templeton establishes Ibsen's primordial importance for Munch as a pioneering modernist voice. She examines the over 400 illustrations Munch made of Ibsen's plays, one of the greatest homages a painter ever made to a writer, showing how Ibsen's imaginative universe was an essential and integral part of Munch's life and work as a whole. Templeton offers a detailed analysis of Munch's famous portraits of Ibsen and a historical and analytical account of Munch's work on the Ibsen stage productions through which he painted himself into theatrical history. Munch's Ibsen will appeal to students of modern literature and art, art history, the history of the modern theatre, Scandinavian art and culture, and interdisciplinary approaches to the humanities. “Templeton's understanding of Ibsen's texts and her ability to recognize Munch's visual renderings of similar themes is convincing and well argued.”- Gerd Woll, Munch Museum, Oslo “Munch's Ibsen is a pioneering study, an important book that will enrich the intellectual life of both my students at this university and my colleagues throughout the world.” - Jan Sjavik, University of Washington