The Scream by Edvard Munch
Edvard Munch was born in 1863 December 12, and died in 1944 January 23 at
Oslo. Munch's mother died in 1868, and his favorite sister Johanne Sophie died
later in 1877. He then was raised by his father and aunt. Grieved from the
death of his wife, Munch’s father told him many ghost stories, which were often
related to Munch’s mother. In Munch’s autobiography, he described his father as
“temperamentally nervous and obsessively religious—to the point of
psychoneurosis”. From him Munch inherited the seeds of madness. The oppressive
religious background, in addition to Munch's poor health, and the vivid ghost
stories helped to inspire his thrilling visions and paints.
What is the artist communicating and how?
The very first theme is about death and fear. In the painting, the protagonist is portrayed with a pale grey color, which is highly similar with the color of human skeleton. His face has two hollow eyes and a big wide opened mouth. The image overlaps with the shape of a human skull. Skull has long been recognized as a symbol of death and danger. It has been broadly used in horror movies, dangerous chemicals and so on. Despite the shape, content wise, the person in the paint was screaming with fear. The sky in the background was painted in red and orange. Such a mixture of color can symbolize fire, or blood. Either represents danger, destroy, and death. The entire paint was trying to convey the emotion of stress and fear, and the underlying theme of death.
The paint is full of contradictories. With these contradictories, Munch created a sense of disturbance and tension. The most obvious conflict is between colors. The sky is portrayed in extreme warm and bright colors, but the river is portrayed in extreme cold and dark colors. Without any graduated colors, the paint was abruptly split into two parts. The second conflict is between lines. Munch used a massive amount of curvy lines in the background to portray the sky and water. However, the railing, where the person is standing by, is portrayed in straight lines. The protagonist is twisted and all in curvy lines; however, the two passengers in the background are painted perfectly straight. This contradiction shows the loneliness of the protagonist, and created an abnormal sense.
Why do I find it beautiful?
I think this paint super reliable. It is amazing how the extreme inner anxieties can be sensed through a two-dimension, abstract paint. All these disturbance elements made the paint full of anxieties and stress. Looking at paint reminds me of my own restless moments. I can see myself sitting in front of a computer trying to get my paper done; or I can see myself trying to catch the bus or I will be late. By relating to myself, I started to feel something beyond fear and stress. I started to sense the loneliness and hopelessness, which are not something that are directly expressed in the paint. It shows how personal interpretations can bring different experiences. Another example would be the actual site of the painting: an overlook on the side of a road called "Valhallveien" on a hill above Oslo, Norway.
What is the artist communicating and how?
- Death and Fear
The very first theme is about death and fear. In the painting, the protagonist is portrayed with a pale grey color, which is highly similar with the color of human skeleton. His face has two hollow eyes and a big wide opened mouth. The image overlaps with the shape of a human skull. Skull has long been recognized as a symbol of death and danger. It has been broadly used in horror movies, dangerous chemicals and so on. Despite the shape, content wise, the person in the paint was screaming with fear. The sky in the background was painted in red and orange. Such a mixture of color can symbolize fire, or blood. Either represents danger, destroy, and death. The entire paint was trying to convey the emotion of stress and fear, and the underlying theme of death.
- Disturbance and tension
The paint is full of contradictories. With these contradictories, Munch created a sense of disturbance and tension. The most obvious conflict is between colors. The sky is portrayed in extreme warm and bright colors, but the river is portrayed in extreme cold and dark colors. Without any graduated colors, the paint was abruptly split into two parts. The second conflict is between lines. Munch used a massive amount of curvy lines in the background to portray the sky and water. However, the railing, where the person is standing by, is portrayed in straight lines. The protagonist is twisted and all in curvy lines; however, the two passengers in the background are painted perfectly straight. This contradiction shows the loneliness of the protagonist, and created an abnormal sense.
Why do I find it beautiful?
I think this paint super reliable. It is amazing how the extreme inner anxieties can be sensed through a two-dimension, abstract paint. All these disturbance elements made the paint full of anxieties and stress. Looking at paint reminds me of my own restless moments. I can see myself sitting in front of a computer trying to get my paper done; or I can see myself trying to catch the bus or I will be late. By relating to myself, I started to feel something beyond fear and stress. I started to sense the loneliness and hopelessness, which are not something that are directly expressed in the paint. It shows how personal interpretations can bring different experiences. Another example would be the actual site of the painting: an overlook on the side of a road called "Valhallveien" on a hill above Oslo, Norway.
The hill is known as Ekeberg Hill. Ekeberg is a neighborhood of
Oslo that is located at the south of the city. This actual road is actually a very
popular place because of its beautiful scenery. Citizens and visitors often take
the road up to the top of the hill and get an overlook of the city. However,
the road was pictured so differently from the reality in the paint, which shows
the magnificent influence that painter has over his work.
