Editing Edvard Munch (section)

===Later years===
[[File:Munch grave 2.JPG|thumb|Munch's grave at the [[Cemetery of Our Saviour]] in Oslo]]
Munch spent most of his last two decades in solitude at his nearly self-sufficient estate in Ekely, at [[Skøyen]], Oslo.<ref>{{harvnb|Prideaux|2005|p=291}}</ref> Many of his late paintings celebrate farm life, including several in which he used his work horse "Rousseau" as a model.<ref>{{harvnb|Prideaux|2005|p=292}}</ref> Without any effort, Munch attracted a steady stream of female models, whom he painted as the subjects of numerous nude paintings. He likely had sexual relationships with some of them.<ref>{{harvnb|Prideaux|2005|p=297}}</ref> Munch occasionally left his home to paint murals on commission, including those done for the [[Freia (chocolate)|Freia]] chocolate factory.<ref>{{harvnb|Prideaux|2005|p=374}}</ref>

To the end of his life, Munch continued to paint unsparing self-portraits, adding to his self-searching cycle of his life and his unflinching series of takes on his emotional and physical states. In the 1930s and 1940s, the [[Nazi Party|Nazis]] labeled Munch's work "[[degenerate art]]" (along with that of [[Pablo Picasso|Picasso]], [[Paul Klee|Klee]], [[Henri Matisse|Matisse]], [[Paul Gauguin|Gauguin]] and many other modern artists) and removed his 82 works from German museums.<ref>{{harvnb|Eggum|1984|p=287}}</ref> [[Adolf Hitler]] announced in 1937, "For all we care, those pre-historic Stone Age culture barbarians and art-stutterers can return to the caves of their ancestors and there can apply their primitive international scratching."<ref>{{harvnb|Prideaux|2005|p=313}}</ref>

In 1940, the [[German occupation of Norway|Germans invaded Norway]] and the Nazi party took over the government. Munch was 76 years old. With nearly an entire collection of his art in the second floor of his house, Munch lived in fear of a Nazi confiscation. Seventy-one of the paintings previously taken by the Nazis had been returned to Norway through purchase by collectors (the other 11 were never recovered), including ''The Scream'' and ''The Sick Child'', and they too were hidden from the Nazis.<ref>{{harvnb|Prideaux|2005|p=319}}</ref>

Munch died in his house at Ekely near Oslo on 23 January 1944, just over a month after his 80th birthday. Shortly after Munch's death several men, including [[Fritz Jenssen]], the NS-mayor of Oslo, arrived at his Ekely house to offer his family a state funeral. His family refused this offer, but to no avail - the Nazis insisted.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hagen |first=Maren Kvamme |date=2020-01-19 |title=Kvifor eigde Munch nazistens visittkort? |url=https://www.nrk.no/kultur/xl/kvifor-hadde-edvard-munch-visittkortet-til-nazisten-josef-terboven_-1.14828662 |access-date=2025-03-18 |website=NRK |language=nn-NO}}</ref> Despite Munch's wish for a private cremation with nobody present; his funeral was hijacked by the Nazis and turned it into a propaganda opportunity.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Roede |first=Johannes |title=Edvard Munch som vi kjente ham - venner forteller |date=1946 |publisher=Dreyer Forlag |location=Oslo, Norway |pages=54–56 |language=no |trans-title=Edvard Munch as we knew him: The friends tell |chapter=Spredte Erindringer om Edvard Munch |chapter-url=https://www.nb.no/items/893fdb01a1dd189aa754d7e7aaf9876c?page=44}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Prideaux|2005|p=328}}</ref>

During Munch's life Nazis struggled to appropriate him as a heroic figure within the Germanic cultural sphere,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Amundsen |first=Bård |date=2013-09-26 |title=Nazistenes vanskelige forhold til Edvard Munch |url=https://www.forskning.no/kunst-og-litteratur-kunsthistorie/nazistenes-vanskelige-forhold-til-edvard-munch/608459 |access-date=2025-03-18 |website=www.forskning.no |language=nb-NO}}</ref> but in death he became easy prey for [[Josef Terboven|Terboven]] and the [[Nasjonal Samling|NS]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hagen |first=Maren Kvamme |date=2020-01-19 |title=Kvifor eigde Munch nazistens visittkort? |url=https://www.nrk.no/kultur/xl/kvifor-hadde-edvard-munch-visittkortet-til-nazisten-josef-terboven_-1.14828662 |access-date=2025-03-18 |website=NRK |language=nn-NO}}</ref> Two days after Munch's death the NS-newspaper Fritt Folk printed an obituary poem by Knut Hamsun on the front page, and dedicated almost the entirety of page two to Munch. They made use of Munch to spread Nazi ideology, and among other things, proclaimed that "Edvard Munch was a shooting star of the Norse race, a representative of our peoples best qualities."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Rasmussen |first=Vilhelm |date=1944-01-25 |title=Professor Vilhelm Rasmussen om Edvard Munch. |url=https://www.nb.no/items/34b6ad63b3d916f934a9e4df0ded82a0?page=1 |access-date=2025-03-18 |work=Fritt Folk |pages=1–2 |language=NO}}</ref> Three days after Munch's death, [[Vidkun Quisling|Quisling]] could on behalf of the state, boast in the newspapers that they would be paying for Edvard Munch's funeral.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--not stated--> |date=1944-01-26 |title=Edvard Munch |url=https://www.nb.no/items/7dc60fbc0a3f899d20e77f34f8828f7d?page=0 |url-access=subscription |work=Fritt Folk |location=Oslo |access-date=2025-03-18 |pages=1 |language=NO}}</ref>

Munch's funeral took place on the 31 January 1944 in Oslo. His casket was surrounded in a well of flowers and wreaths, with two enormous wreaths decorated with swastikas placed prominently on either side of his casket. These wreathes were personally signed by [[Josef Terboven|Terboven]], [[Vidkun Quisling|Quisling]], and the NS leader for Public Information and Propaganda [[Georg Wilhelm Müller]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=1944-01-31 |title=Edvard Munchs siste ferd |url=https://www.nb.no/items/c3c4aeef8f2ec8fb655d86f455300933?page=0 |work=Aftenposten |pages=1–2}}</ref> Between the coverage of Edvard Munch's death in newspapers and his Nazi-orchestrated state funeral, the Nazis were successful in creating the impression that Munch supported Nazi ideologies and methods. This led many Norwegians to question whether or not Munch harboured Nazi sympathies.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Roede |first=Johannes |title=Edvard Munch som vi kjente ham - venner forteller |date=1946 |publisher=Dreyer Forlag |location=Oslo, Norway |pages=54–56 |language=no |trans-title=Edvard Munch as we knew him: The friends tell |chapter=Spredte Erindringer om Edvard Munch |chapter-url=https://www.nb.no/items/893fdb01a1dd189aa754d7e7aaf9876c?page=44}}</ref>

The city of Oslo bought Edvard Munch's Ekely estate from his heirs in 1946; the house was demolished in May 1960.{{sfn|Altern|1961|pp=5–19}}