Jørgen Sørensen

Jørgen Sørensen of 1885, in the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design in Oslo, is another portrait from the early professional commissions that occupied Munch alongside his academic training in the mid-1880s. Sørensen was a member of the Norwegian professional class, and the commission provided income for the young artist while testing his abilities as a conventional portraitist. The painting illustrates the divide between Munch's training obligations and the artistic direction he was already gravitating toward, visible in the slightly looser handling of certain passages compared to more formally constrained portrait subjects of the same year.

The portrait maintains the correct professional tone of a commissioned likeness with a controlled palette of dark coat, pale face, and neutral ground. Minor variations in the handling of the collar and background area suggest Munch testing the boundaries of the commission's implied expectations for formal and flattering finish.