Two Nudes Standing by a Chest of Drawers

Munch's 'Two Nudes Standing by a Chest of Drawers' (1903) is an unusual work within his oeuvre, depicting two female nudes in an interior domestic setting with more descriptive than symbolic intent. Munch's nude figure paintings were typically charged with anxiety or erotic threat, but this canvas has a more matter-of-fact quality, the two women occupying domestic space with a naturalness closer to Degas or Vuillard than to Munch's typical psychological theatre. The Westphalian State Museum in Münster holds this as an example of his figurative range beyond the well-known angst-laden works.

The two figures are rendered with warm flesh tones against the cooler backdrop of the domestic interior. Munch applies paint with his typical directness, modelling form through tonal variation rather than careful anatomical finish. The chest of drawers provides a domestic anchor and a block of warm colour that grounds the composition alongside the figures.