Through his visual art and his writings, Munch offered speculation about alternative worlds, those that animate the tangible world on Earth as well as forces in the larger universe. In an era in which science fiction matured as a genre, a variety of radiant energies were studied by astronomers, and mediumistic communication had entered popular belief, Munch's "trembling earth" was suspended in a web of otherworldliness. Art historian and Professor of Art History at Wellesley College Pat Berman takes us on a tour of these imaginary worlds.

Free.

Image: Edvard Munch, Summer Night by the Beach (detail), 1902–03, oil on canvas. Private collection, © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York