In Norway, Seeking Munch’s Brighter Palette

Almost from the start, my trip to Oslo last summer became a voyage of discovery into the life and trials of Norway’s greatest 20th-century painter, Edvard Munch.At lunch the first day in the lush, wood-paneled restaurant at the Grand Hotel, I found myself in a setting virtually unchanged since the era when Munch, Henrik Ibsen and other members of the Norwegian intelligentsia indulged in liquor-fueled discussions late into the night about the growing importance of emotions in the arts.