Fine Art "The Scream"
Artist Edvard Munch, (born December 12, 1863, Löten, Norway—died January 23, 1944, Ekely, near Oslo), Norwegian painter. German Expressionism Period.
Have you ever wondered about Edvard Munch's painting “The Scream” ? What made this man paint such a symbolic expression of fear and anxiety. I went looking for some answers, since it is used so much in modern media.
The Britannica Website states that when asked Munch, detailed how walking along a path in Oslo, Norway, (then known as Kristiania), the sky had turned blood red as the sun was setting. Munch said, “ I felt as though I could actually hear the scream. I painted this picture, painted the clouds like real blood. The colors shrieked.” The work depicts a screaming man, as the world around him presses in in on both sides and the heavy red skies press down.
On one of the copies done by the artist he wrote: “Could only have been painted by a madman.”
The painting was an expression of a feeling, that is easily seen as primal fear and anxiety. The Edvard Munch Organization, (yes the artist has a fan club…) states: “Munch was aware of the danger of art of this sort for a neurotic humanist like himself. He soon abandoned the style and rarely if” ever again subjected a foreground figure to this kind of radical and systematic distortion. At the top of another version of the subject (National Gallery, Oslo) he wrote: 'Can only have been painted by a madman.' He certainly had a horror of insanity, which had afflicted his sister Laura."
Munch was an extremely prolific painter/illustrationist, whose bulk of work dealt with studies of grief, pain, and emotional upheaval. He painted during Art Period known as American Expressionism.
Today you hardly ever see his other works because The Scream is the most well known of his paintings. Infact many people will see the painting, and instantly know the name but never know the name of the artist that painted it hundreds of years ago. You can find slippers and t-shirt in the FlooredByArt Online Store Now.
Note: Other Edvard Munch Painting shown is titled the "The Vampire"