This dissertation undertakes the first contextual study of Edvard Munch's late figural paintings. In 1909, Munch (1863-1944) returned to Norway after spending two decades living abroad in Germany and France, and the previous year at a Copenhagen sanatorium, battling an alcohol addiction. After Munch reestablished himself in his native land, critics noted a change in style and subject matter, as well as a brightening of his palette: evidence of his "cure" in Copenhagen. This perceived shift in the artist's work has effectively divided Munch's career in two, and the scholarship treats each half as independent of the other.

Studies of Munch's public commissions have shown that after 1909, Munch was driven by a quest for national acclaim. Yet, the figural works, which have received far less attention, demonstrate that Munch continued to develop ideas and motifs that had been central to his early career, challenging the long-held view of the separation between the two halves of Munch's oeuvre. The artist's engagement with modalities of space and time, and his interest in sexual relationships and the expression of human emotions, already evident in the 1880s and 1890s, evolved throughout the course of his career.

By examining the cultural, social, and scientific contexts that informed the creation of the figural works, as well as the circumstances of their exhibition, this dissertation reveals that Munch gave familiar topoi a new, more contemporary valence, portraying relations between homosexual and interracial couples, rendering distortions of depicted space as bearers of emotional content, and challenging the temporal and affective capacities of modern media. The late figural paintings revisit earlier themes through a twentieth century lens, allowing Munch to negotiate his relationship with modernity while furthering his examination of the fundamental concerns of the human condition.