Do You Know The Story Behind This Famous Painting?
What was Edvard Munch screaming about?
You may have seen this image, it’s quite famous, but do you know who painted it? The Norwegian artist, Edvard Munch, was one of the most prolific, innovative and influential figures in modern art.
Upon his death in 1944, at the age of 80, the authorities found a collection of 1,008 paintings, 4,443 drawings and 15,391 prints; As well as woodcuts, etchings, lithographs, and photographs.
So why do most people only know this one painting?
The Scream painting is of a genderless person, a twisted figure with mouth and eyes open wide in a shriek of horror. The sky and water are swirling in the background, with two other people disappearing into the distance.
Can you feel it?
Munch’s ability to capture the heightened tension of anxiety and uncertainty has connected with the collective soul of our modern age. Munch believed that a painter mustn’t merely depict scenes from everyday reality; art should transmit emotional sensation.
The Scream references an experience Munch had one evening. He was walking along at sunset by the fjord, with two friends, when he was overcome with a vision, “Life had ripped open…
