The Loneliness of The Soul

The Loneliness of the Soul, a joint exhibition by Tracey Emin (b. 1963) and Edvard Munch (1863–1944), deeply moved me. Held first at the Royal Academy of Arts in London in 2020 and later at the MUNCH Museum in Oslo in 2022, the show created a powerful emotional dialogue across time. It explored themes of love, grief, and isolation through the raw, introspective lens of both artists. Munch, one of my longtime favorites, was compellingly paired with Emin, whose deeply personal and often confessional work draws from her own life. She transforms pain, desire, loss, and longing into something universally resonant. Together, their works formed a haunting meditation on human vulnerability and the timeless, transformative power of art.

The Loneliness of the Soul was a joint exhibition by Tracey Emin (b. 1963) and Edvard Munch (1863–1944), first shown at the Royal Academy of Arts, London (2020–21), and later at the Munch Museum, Oslo. The exhibition explored shared themes of love, grief, loneliness, and the female body, presenting 19 works by Munch alongside Emin’s recent paintings, sculptures, and neons.

Emin has long cited Munch as a major influence, drawn to his emotional honesty and depictions of human vulnerability. In this exhibition, she selected the Munch works herself - including The Death of Marat (1907) and The Lonely Ones (1935) - to create a dialogue between their art across a century.

The show gained added poignancy as Emin was recovering from cancer at the time, deepening her personal connection to Munch’s own struggles with illness and isolation. When the exhibition reached Oslo, it coincided with the unveiling of Emin’s monumental bronze sculpture The Mother (2022) outside the new MUNCH museum - a tribute to care, protection, and artistic kinship.