Blaveisbakken was painted at Munch's country house in Ekely, on the outskirts of Oslo, which he bought in 1916. Several other watercolours and oils of the same subject exist of similar date. Amongst the more notable examples are a watercolour entitled Dying Tree Trunks in the Rolf E. Stenersen collection and an oil of the same title recorded in the Munich Museum archive (M.308). Unlike these works, which are far more bleak and autumnal in feel, the present work maintains an atmosphere of springtime. The forest is peopled by women gathering flowers or berries in brightly coloured clothing and the trees themselves are alive with colour and movement. The vigorous brushstrokes and bold contrasts of colour remind one of the monumental oil of the same year entitled Springtime in the Park (M.799) where, as in Blaveisbakken, man is dominated by nature. This pre-occupation with the inter-relation between man and nature is prevalent in much of Munch's work and reflects his interests in the writings of the philosopher Henri Bergson (1859-1941) and the German biologist Ernst Haeckel (1862-1909).