Edvard Munch's own deeply original style crystallizes in Berlin, where he lives mainly from 1892.
The flowing, tortuous use of line in his new paintings, serves not as decoration but as a vehicle for profound psychological revelation.
In The Kiss by the Window (1892, Nasjonalgalleriet, Oslo), a man and woman are locked in a tender and passionate embrace, their bodies merging into a single undulating form and their faces melting so completely into each other that neither retains any individual features.
The outraged incomprehension of his work by Norwegian critics is echoed by their counterparts in Berlin when Munch exhibits a large number of his paintings there in 1892 at the invitation of the Union of Berlin Artists.
The violent emotion and unconventional imagery of his paintings, especially their daringly frank representations of sexuality, create a bitter controversy.
Critics are also offended by his innovative technique, which to most appears unfinished.
The scandal, however, helps make his name known throughout Germany, and from there his reputation spreads farther.