Munch painted multiple variant versions of the expressionist work in oil on canvas during the period 1891–1893.

The painting depicts a man with his head resting in his hand in a pensive mood at the edge of a shoreline.

The inspiration for the painting was an unhappy romantic affair that Munch's friend, Jappe Nilssen, was involved in.

In Munch's painting the figure of the melancholy man is at the right, and his mood is represented by the undulating shoreline and skylines that extend toward the left.

Critics suggest that there are also erotic allusions, perhaps in the presence of the Moon reflected on the water.