Andreas Bjølstad

Andreas Bjølstad of 1888, in the Munch Museum, depicts a member of the extended Bjølstad family — relatives on his mother's side, the family name shared by his aunt Karen who raised him after his mother's death. The portrait documents a year of artistic transformation, with Munch moving between summer at the fjord and his recent Paris experience, and the handling shows greater chromatic confidence than the more cautious early portrait work of 1885. The Bjølstad family connection placed this commission within the personal network of obligation and affection rather than purely professional transaction.

The handling displays the looser, more colour-aware technique Munch developed after his Paris exposure, with patches of warm and cool tone building the face rather than smooth blended academic modelling. The relatively informal posture and direct but relaxed gaze give the portrait a private, unguarded quality suited to a family sitter.