The Berlin Secession in Germany was more conservative than that of Austria, although it did mount an exhibition of the more avant-garde work of the painter from Norway Edvard Munch. Unlike many of the other Symbolists, Munch remained a prolific, modern, and influential painter throughout his life. As one critic has written regarding Munch's work: "long before it was enunciated elsewhere, he embodied the doctrine that the modern artist puts himself personally at risk in his art - that in giving life to his creations, he necessarily risks his own." Munch's work is Symbolist in that the meanings are derived from the colors and forms; his work goes beyond that of other Symbolists in that it is more formally expressive and uses figures' postures and gestures to consistently produce new meanings.