For the next three Sundays, visitors can see the internationally acclaimed exhibition Jasper Johns and Edvard Munch: Love, Loss and the Cycle of Life at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts for free. Scream Sundays takes its name from Munch’s iconic work, The Scream¸which exists in a number of different versions. A rare black-and-white lithograph of The Scream, which Munch made in 1895, is one of the highlights of the exhibition.
While admission to Jasper Johns and Edvard Munch will be free all day on those three Sundays, visitors still must have timed entry tickets. Tickets can be picked up any time at the Visitor Services desk. Visitors also can reserve free tickets online or by phone at 804.340.1405; the price of tickets reserved online will be discounted automatically on the billing screen.
Free admission is offered on these Sundays: January 29, February 5 and February 12, 2017. The exhibition will close on February 20, 2017.
Organized by VMFA in partnership with the Munch Museum in Oslo, Jasper Johns and Edvard Munch examines how Johns (born 1930), one of America’s preeminent artists, mined the work of the Norwegian Expressionist in the late 1970s and early 1980s as he moved away from a decade of abstract painting towards a more open expression of love, sex, loss and death. VMFA is the exhibition’s sole U.S. venue, following the presentation at the Munch Museum, the sole venue abroad.
“This is an fascinating examination and exploration of the relationship between these two extraordinary artists – and an unparalleled exhibition that is elevating our museum’s profile on an international scale,” VMFA Director Alex Nyerges said. “In support of our ongoing mission to increase the accessibility of art throughout the Commonwealth, we believe that offering free admission on Scream Sundays will ensure more visitors will have an opportunity to experience this unique and compelling exhibition.”
Since opening on November 12, 2016, the exhibition has earned extensive media coverage and rave reviews, in publications such as The Wall Street Journal; London-based Burlington Magazine, billed as the world’s leading monthly publication devoted to the fine and decorative arts; and Hyperallergic, an online forum with perspectives on art and culture around the globe.
Here’s the RFM review of Jasper Johns and Edvard Munch: Love, Loss, and the Cycle of Life.