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The impact
and importance
of a painting's
title is vividly
demonstrated
in the case
of this work
by the Norwegian
Symbolist/Expressionist
Edvard Munch.
Munch created
several versions
of this striking
image of a
helpless man
in the embrace
of a scarlet-haired
woman. As
originally
entitled Love
and Pain,
it can be
seen as a
a depiction
of desolation
and consolation,
a distraught
man in the
arms of love.
Their relationship
is a mystery,
but the man
is clearly
surrendering
himself in
a sea of darkness,
as if to plead
for - what?
Understanding,
forgiveness,
solace, companionship
or the return
of his desire?
Later known
as 'Vampire,'
the work takes
on a potentially
sinister connotation.
The crimson
tresses seem
to suggest
blood, the
man seems
suddenly drained
of life and
the darkness
surrounding
the pair becomes
her domain..
As a visual
metaphor depicting
the femme
fatale draining
the life from
her beguiled
victim or
as a literal
vision of
a blood-drinker
at the throat
of her prey,
'Vampire'
has become
a part of
the familiar
imagery of
gothic culture,
associated
with the poetry
of Baudelaire
in The Flowers
of Evil, with
whom the artist
was familiar.
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