Comment:
During his stay in Dr. Jacobson’s clinic in Copenhagen in 1908-09 Munch created the series of lithographs entitled "Alpha and Omega". He also composed the rather bizarre text about how woman betrays man by having relations with all the animals on the island. However, this illustrated story is based on a series of drawings that Munch made in the mid 1890s, which he called "The First Human Beings". This drawing is part of that sequence. They are drawn on the same type of paper and have a common technique, where pen and washes dominate. There is a slightly more idyllic undertone in this series than in "Alpha and Omega", which was most likely coloured by the extremely troubled relationship Munch had with Tulla Larsen in the years 1898-1902.