Edvard Munch, the man who painted The Scream, created the painting’s first form in 1893. Following that, he continued making 3 other forms of it in different mediums: pastel, tempera, and crayon. Munch was said to have been initially inspired by a real life experience he had. He had been walking along a boardwalk with his friends when all of a sudden, he froze and saw the sky turn a burning orange and everything becoming a blur before him. In an interview, he said, “I felt a vast infinite scream tear through nature.” Munch said it was the cry of nature. This painting is a part of the Frieze of Life series Munch established, which is about the progression of life through love, angst, and at last death.
Another factor about Munch that contributed to the idea of making this painting was the fact that he feared insanity. He saw his own sister go through it and from that, grew a fear of it. After he had finished this painting, he did not go back to the style he used for it, thinking only a madman could have done it. This painting was made before World War I, so some say it related to the anxiety leading up to it. Munch is known for being involved with expressionism & symbolism in his works.
What is the artist communicating and how?
By creating this work of art, Edvard Munch was able to convey a universal emotion for all to understand. It was a relatable sensation that was depicted in his painting. The figure in painting feels the cry of nature, just as Munch heard when he experienced something similar, as previously mentioned. It perceived something outside of reality, showing what the figure experience in its head. Munch also communicated the anxiety felt by the figure in reaction to everything around itself. He made use of the method of synesthesia in that he visually depicted sound (the cry of nature) and emotion (anxiety and pain). Munch also painted the figure in such a way that it became a part of its surrounding and curves with nature. When he felt the cry of nature, he wanted the figure to be seen as part of nature because it understood what nature was going through in that moment and felt the pain. By making the figure using the same curvature of lines and blending of paint, the figure became a part of the background, sharing similarities.
Munch used flowing, blending curves rather than precise lines to express the confusion and feeling of being lost in the mind that the figure felt in that moment. The distortion of the background scenery and the figure was like the distortion of mind. Also, Munch made the facial expression of the figure precisely to depict fear, worry, and panic in it. The figure almost seemed like it was close to death, communicating the strain on the modern man. Through details of keeping the fence, boardwalk, and the two men undistorted, Munch showed how amidst the figure undergoing this sudden feeling, there was a sense of reality right next to it, as if the figure was the insane one. The two men are on solid ground and don’t understand what the figure feels. As well as that, he used certain colors of burnt oranges and dark reds in the sky, depicting the nature of the cry, and brownish colors mixing together as if it was all disordered.
Why do you find it beautiful?
I found this painting by Munch to be particularly beautiful because of how he depicted a universal feeling so well to the point one could feel it just by observing his piece. I loved how he used distortion to show these internal emotions as well as all the other elements he took into consideration to get the desired effect. It is very powerful in its ability to convey this emotion of anxiety, fear, and pain.
The way I first interpreted the painting was a little different than how Munch came up with this idea. I thought it was depicting how the world is moving so fast around all of us and we need to pause for a second to just react to the fast-pace movement surrounding us which we become a part of, just as the figure in the painting was seen doing. The figure felt a feeling of anxiety and pain, but the two sane men in the background were normal in shape and easily identifiable as if they had no idea what this figure could understand, since they were just a part of the fast-moving world of work, unaware. When I learned about how Munch based The Scream off of a real experience, relating it to a figure feeling the cry of nature, I loved the painting even more so than before, especially because when I first saw this painting a while back, I thought the facial expression of the figure was funny.
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