Edvard Munch (1863-1944) | The Vampire

From an early age on, Munch grappled with poor health, intense emotions, depression and suicidal tendencies, though he did eventually undergo therapy, stopped drinking and lived to see his eightieth birthday.

Munch’s 1895 The Vampire — alternately titled Love and Pain — focuses on the concept of the female as a blood-sucking entity. A woman leans over a man who seems helpless and passive, her mouth perhaps ready to bite into the back of his neck. Her red hair is long and loose and looks like blood dripping over them both, this being the only vibrant color in an otherwise dark and claustrophobic scene. And though there are no visible fangs or traditional vampire gore, the then-tormented Munch definitely gave the impression that love can sometimes turn into a private horror show.

Edvard Munch (1863-1944) | The Vampire

From an early age on, Munch grappled with poor health, intense emotions, depression and suicidal tendencies, though he did eventually undergo therapy, stopped drinking and lived to see his eightieth birthday.

Munch’s 1895 The Vampire — alternately titled Love and Pain — focuses on the concept of the female as a blood-sucking entity. A woman leans over a man who seems helpless and passive, her mouth perhaps ready to bite into the back of his neck. Her red hair is long and loose and looks like blood dripping over them both, this being the only vibrant color in an otherwise dark and claustrophobic scene. And though there are no visible fangs or traditional vampire gore, the then-tormented Munch definitely gave the impression that love can sometimes turn into a private horror show.

Lucien Lévy-Dhurmer | Sorceress

 

Lucien Lévy-Dhurmer (1865-1953) was an Algerian-born artist who spent most of his career in France. Lévy-Dhurmer’s style was ethereal and unique, as particularly illustrated in his pastel drawings. In the mystical pastel Sorceress, a pale woman hooded and gloved in black holds a vial before her. Bats flitter in the background, a black cat crouches on her shoulder, while a blue snake and newt slither upward in the eerie moonlight.

Lucien Lévy-Dhurmer | Sorceress

 

Lucien Lévy-Dhurmer (1865-1953) was an Algerian-born artist who spent most of his career in France. Lévy-Dhurmer’s style was ethereal and unique, as particularly illustrated in his pastel drawings. In the mystical pastel Sorceress, a pale woman hooded and gloved in black holds a vial before her. Bats flitter in the background, a black cat crouches on her shoulder, while a blue snake and newt slither upward in the eerie moonlight.

Tompkins Harrison Matteson | Examination of a Witch

Generally supposed to represent an event in the Salem witch trials, an earlier version of this painting was exhibited by the artist in New York in 1848 with a quotation from John Greenleaf Whittier's book Supernaturalism of New England, 1847: "Mary Fisher, a young girl, was seized upon by Deputy Governor Bellingham in the absence of Governor Endicott, and shamefully stripped for the purpose of ascertaining whether she was a witch, with the Devil's mark upon her." 

Tompkins Harrison Matteson | Examination of a Witch

Generally supposed to represent an event in the Salem witch trials, an earlier version of this painting was exhibited by the artist in New York in 1848 with a quotation from John Greenleaf Whittier's book Supernaturalism of New England, 1847: "Mary Fisher, a young girl, was seized upon by Deputy Governor Bellingham in the absence of Governor Endicott, and shamefully stripped for the purpose of ascertaining whether she was a witch, with the Devil's mark upon her."