A 1901 lithograph by Edvard Munch, featuring a striking portrait of a woman with flowing red hair and piercing green eyes.

Edvard Munch produced this lithograph, often titled Sin, in 1901. The work features a frontal portrait of a woman with long, flowing red hair that frames her pale torso. Her gaze is directed forward, with striking green eyes providing a sharp contrast to the monochromatic orange-red ink used for the hair and the surrounding border. The composition is contained within a rectangular frame, a common device in Munch's graphic work to create a sense of enclosure or psychological distance. Munch utilised the lithographic process to explore themes of human emotion and desire. The figure is rendered with fluid, calligraphic lines that suggest movement in the hair while maintaining a static, almost haunting presence in the face. The lack of background detail forces the viewer to focus entirely on the subject, whose expression remains ambiguous. This print is part of a broader body of work in which Munch examined the complexities of attraction and the psychological weight of his subjects. The use of a single colour for the hair and frame creates a visual unity that draws the eye directly to the face, where the green eyes act as the only departure from the warm colour scheme. As a practitioner of Expressionism, Munch prioritised the communication of internal states over objective representation. This print demonstrates his ability to distil a figure into its essential components, using line and colour to convey a specific mood. The work is a clear example of his technical proficiency in printmaking, a medium he used throughout his career to disseminate his ideas to a wider audience. The simplicity of the form, combined with the intensity of the subject's stare, creates a direct engagement with the viewer, typical of his approach to portraiture.