“Stop to see how Edvard Munch captures the raw, magnetic pull between two figures on a moonlit shore, using stark lines and swirling forms to evoke a powerful emotional landscape.”
In "Attraction I," two figures, a man and a woman, stand on a shoreline, their forms simplified and almost silhouetted against a swirling, moonlit sky. The woman, with her long, flowing hair, seems to draw the man towards her, her body a sinuous curve. This lithograph, created in 1896, captures a sense of primal energy and emotional tension through its stark contrasts and fluid lines. The landscape itself, with its dark, undulating forms, seems to echo the internal turmoil and magnetic pull between the individuals. It’s a powerful exploration of human connection and the mysterious forces that bind us, rendered with the raw intensity characteristic of Symbolism and early Expressionism.
- Artist
- Edvard Munch
- Date
- 1896
- Medium
- Lithograph
- Location
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art
What to Notice
Four details hide in plain sight. Here’s where to look.

The woman's long, unbound hair, almost merging with the dark sky.
The way the man's figure leans into the woman's, suggesting an invisible pull.
The swirling, almost hypnotic lines in the sky and water.
The stark contrast between the dark figures and the lighter, glowing moon.
Stand in front of it and listen
The full narration walks you through Attraction I — the story behind it, the details most visitors miss, and why it matters. Free in the Art Whisper app.
Edvard Munch
1863–1944 · NorwayNorwegian painter whose 1893 work The Scream became one of Western art's most iconic images.
Further Works by Munch
Potted Plant
1881 · Munch Museum
The Sick Child
1885 · National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design
The Hands
1893 · Munch Museum
The Kiss
1897 · Munch Museum
Consolation
1907 · Munch Museum
Two Women on the Shore
1935 · Munch Museum
Death and the Woman
1894 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Tête-á-Tête
1894 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
More from Symbolism
The Seine at Pont de Grenelle
Gauguin · 1875 · Wallraf–Richartz Museum
Beata Beatrix
Rossetti · 1877 · Birmingham Museums Trust
Lozenge Composition with Yellow, Black, Blue, Red, and Gray
Mondrian · 1921 · Art Institute of Chicago
Portrait of a Lady in a High Hat
Klimt · 1882 · Art Institute of Chicago
More works to explore
Beyond Munch and Symbolism: works from the same years, and from the other movements Attraction I belongs to.
Same movement · Expressionism
Cart with Red and White Ox
Vincent van Gogh · 1884 · Kröller-Müller Museum
Same era · 1880s–1910s
A Woman Walking in a Garden
Vincent van Gogh · 1887 · Frans Buffa & sons
Same movement · Expressionism
Birth
Marc Chagall · 1911 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1880s–1910s
Still Life with Crayfish
Mikhail Larionov · 1900 · Museum Ludwig
Same movement · Expressionism
Crouching Nude in Shoes and Black Stockings, Back View
Egon Schiele · 1912 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Same era · 1880s–1910s
Frauenkopf vor Sonnenblumen
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner · 1906 · Museum Frieder Burda
Same movement · Expressionism
Death in the Garden (Legend)
Paul Klee · 1919 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1880s–1910s
A Sunday on La Grande Jatte — 1884
Okada Saburosuke · 1884 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same movement · Expressionism
Figure with Meat
Francis Bacon · 1954 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1880s–1910s
Madame Léon Clapisson
Léon-Victor Dupré · 1883 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1880s–1910s
Maternal Caress
Mary Cassatt · 1896 · Philadelphia Museum of Art
Same era · 1880s–1910s
The Loire
Alfred Sisley · 1896 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1880s–1910s
Three Tahitian Women
Paul Gauguin · 1896 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Same era · 1880s–1910s
House and Courtyard
John Singer Sargent · 1895 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Same era · 1880s–1910s
Ile aux Orties near Vernon
Claude Monet · 1897 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Same era · 1880s–1910s
Madame Thadée Natanson (Misia Godebska, 1872–1950) at the Theater
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec · 1895 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Same era · 1880s–1910s
Woman Mending
Camille Pissarro · 1895 · Art Institute of Chicago
