THE SCREAM : Unheard Yet Heard

THE SCREAM is a remarkable piece of impressionist art made Edward Munch primarily in the year 1893. Originally known as Der Schrei der Natur (the scream of nature), features extravagant yet distorted figures, contrasting colours and a window into painter's thoughts and ideas. The inspiration of the painting came around in 1892.....

Inspiration

It was in January1892, while he was strolling along two roads on the fjord overlooking Oslo, a city in Norway. It was the time near sunset when scene in front of him knocked the air out of him. It was like any other  evening, sun setting above the sea, unfolding an extravagant spread of red, orange and yellow.


Munch's family had been riddled with mental illnesses for generations, and he was no exception. He was tormented with depression and was eventually diagnosed with neurasthenia, a mental illness associated with hysteria ad hypochondria. This tells us something about why the scene which most may have found beautiful even seemed absolutely terrifying. He was overwhelmed with so many emotions that he stood still right there, frozen and  horrified at the colours in front, while his two friends walked ahead.
Rather than finding the sky in all its glory, sombrely resplendent, he found it to be an apocalyptic crimson. Blood red, as if it had tongues of fires were lashing at the world below. The high and frantic waves may seem tranquil to many, but to him seemed to be as he put is " resonating an infinite scream of nature".


Features and Significance

  •  The painting is of an abstracted landscape made of swirling and distorted line that show nature in its true form, chaos.
  •  All manmade structures (bridge, men, boat) are shown in rigid lines highlighting a contrast between nature and civilization forced upon it.
Blue- rigid, Green- swirling

  •  The image is made of brush strokes and pastel line with only 3 major separating line -
    •  the railing of the bridge, 
    • the line separating the sky and sea,
    •  and one separating what seems to be a piece of land and sea
  
  •  There are many figurative figures in the painting;
    •  the boat in the distance amidst the sea shows the concept of space and time,
    •  and the two figures standing on the bridge are Munch's friends but also represent the prying eyes of judging from afar ,which weren't new to Munch.

  •  The most remarkable feature of the painting is the person standing in the foreground. Who is it? The figure seems an ageless, raceless and sexless being which thought to be inspired by the Peruvian Mummy which was put up for display in 1892.

  •  The colours used are make powerful contrasts, the extravagant red and orange with the dull blues and greens everywhere else.
  •  Though the painting appears simple a clever contrast of complementary colours has been used ( blue-orange, red-green) which makes a powerful tool for depicting drama and emotions.
In all today, The Scream represents modern anxiety and alienation, Munch was discontented with the evolving modern world and it's irreversible impacts on nature, which we can all resonate today.

Interesting Facts

  •  A less known fact about The Scream is that it has 4 versions that were by Munch:
    •  Pastel (original, 1893)
    •  Pastel II (1895)
    •  Tempera Version(1910)
    •  Lithography Version ( for mass reproduction , 1895)

  •  The Scream has been stolen TWICE!!!
    •  In 1994 the original Pastel was from the National Gallery of Oslo, but thankfully returned within two months, completely undamaged
    •  The 1910 version was stolen in 2004 in broad daylight from the Munch Museum in Norway due to their lack of security. It was recovered in 2006 with quite some damage. Funnily, the thief confessed when M&M and Mars Inc. collaborated to promote the new dark M&Ms and put a bounty of 2 million M&Ms. In the end, Mars gave 2.2 tonnes candy to the Norwegian authorities and the thief ended in prison.

  •  Munch wasn't happy about any restoration done for the painting, he wanted people to see the effects of time on his work. He said, " They'd do well fending for themselves."

  •  The person in the foreground isn't actually screaming as often mistaken but trying to block out the 'shrieks of nature'. it isn't made to represent any one person.

  • It's powerful expression has proliferated in daily life in forms of emojis




  • It has made its way into Pop art and culture, many memes, caricatures and adaptations of The Scream can be found all over the net.

  •  One of the versions of The Scream was put up for auction Sotheby in 2012 ,was sold to Peter Olsen for $120 million, setting a Guinness World Record of most expensive painting sold in an auction.




Hope the content above was helpful. Please leave a comment below and follow me on Instagram on @detail_artwith_a12 for timely updates.

Signing off
A.

Comments

Unknown said…
Very well summed up all the facts.
May 12, 2020 at 7:53 PM
Manish said…
Quite an amazing way of looking at art. I almost skipped the boat if it was not specified above. Love the linkage with old with current times: the emoji one. How cool was that. Love the la gauge and the details.
May 13, 2020 at 2:04 PM
Unknown said…
Very interesting article, really explains everything in detail. All the best for your upcoming post.
May 15, 2020 at 10:16 PM
Unknown said…
A good perspective on the struggles and anxieties of both the artists and how they portrayed it in their art.
May 15, 2020 at 10:37 PM
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