In The Garden

Gerhard Munthe was a Norwegian painter and decorative artist who became one of the central figures of Norwegian national Romanticism — his late works in particular moved decisively toward a bold, decorative style influenced by Norwegian folk art, Viking art, and the broader European Symbolist movement. His 'In the Garden' (1885) belongs to his earlier naturalistic period, before his full embrace of decorative Symbolism, and shows his engagement with the plein air tradition he developed through study in Germany and France.

Munthe's early garden subject shows his naturalistic formation — the outdoor setting handled with the light sensitivity he developed through his German and French exposure. His handling in this period is more conventional than the bold, pattern-based decorative style he would later develop. The garden setting provides a subject of cultivated nature that suited both his naturalistic training and his growing decorative interests.