The major French symbolist artist, Odilon Redon, developed a highly finished lithographic technique and the style of these heavily contrasted black and white lithos form a backdrop to Munch’s early examples which he took up in 1895. Even Redon’s unnaturally huge eyes had some effect on Munch’s portraits.

In 1896 while in Paris, Munch made forty-nine prints using all techniques and wanting to introduce fine art printmaking to Norway where it did not exist per se. He understood and embraced the different processes due to his friends in the literary world who used graphic techniques such as close confidant and playwright, August Strindberg.