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The Scream by Edvard Munch Analysis

Edvard Munch's 1893 painting "The Scream" depicts a genderless figure screaming on a bridge with Oslo in the background. It was inspired by Munch's experience of a panic attack while walking near a mental asylum and slaughterhouse, where he heard screams. The swirling colors express Munch's inner turmoil and anxiety in that moment. The painting reveals an honest glimpse into Munch's troubled feelings and existential crisis, prioritizing personal meaning over technical skill. It has become one of the most recognizable works of art due to its ability to evoke overwhelming emotions through bright colors and the figure's expression of anguish.

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159 views2 pages

The Scream by Edvard Munch Analysis

Edvard Munch's 1893 painting "The Scream" depicts a genderless figure screaming on a bridge with Oslo in the background. It was inspired by Munch's experience of a panic attack while walking near a mental asylum and slaughterhouse, where he heard screams. The swirling colors express Munch's inner turmoil and anxiety in that moment. The painting reveals an honest glimpse into Munch's troubled feelings and existential crisis, prioritizing personal meaning over technical skill. It has become one of the most recognizable works of art due to its ability to evoke overwhelming emotions through bright colors and the figure's expression of anguish.

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kaltra
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We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Kaltra Muka IX B

THE SCREAM – EDVARD MUNCH (1893)


The Scream is the popular name given to a composition created by the
Expressionist artist Edvard Munch in 1893 and is one of the most well-known pieces of artwork
in history.
In The Scream’s timeless image is a genderless person with a pale face, standing beside a
railing with an expansive view of a chaotic environment. What is so gripping about the image is
that the person is screaming, their mouth hung wide open with their hands on the sides of their
face, and you can see that scream reflected and continuing on into the distance of the intensely
bloody red, orange, deep blue, and black colored background. Two people stand with their
backs turned to the screaming figure, with their black silhouettes on the very edge of the scene.
Far in the distance there is a hint of a small city, almost completely lost in the swirling sky.
The scene of The Scream was based on a real, actual place located on the hill of Ekeberg,
Norway. The faint city and landscape represents the view of Oslo. At the bottom of the Ekeberg
hill was the madhouse where Edvard Munch’s sister was kept, and nearby was also a
slaughterhouse. Some accounts describe that in those times you could actually hear the cries of
animals being killed, as well as the cries of the mentally disturbed patients in the distance. In
this setting, Edvard Munch was likely inspired by screams that he actually heard in this area,
combined with his personal inner turmoil. Edvard Munch wrote in his diary that his inspiration
for The Scream came from a memory of when he was walking at sunset with two friends, when
he began to feel deeply tired. He stopped to rest, leaning against the railing.  He felt anxious and
experienced a scream that seemed to pass through all of the nature. In what he referred to,as
his "soul painting," Edvard Munch reveals an honest and perhaps even ugly glimpse of his
inner troubles and feelings of anxiety, putting more importance on personal meaning than
on technical skill or "beauty," a traditional goal of art. While watching a vivid sunset might
sound relaxing and enjoyable, for Munch it was a moment of existential crisis. In what
sounds like a panic attack, Munch describes feelings of exhaustion while overwhelmed by
an almost violent wave of anxiety. Like most panic attacks, Munch's experience by the fjord
was a lonely internal struggle, as his two friends walk on without him, completely unaware
of the artist's suffering.

The Scream  almost vibrates with a swirling and overwhelming feeling and emotion. In the
manner of a true Expressionist painter, Munch uses bright colorful imagery to express his
chaotic emotional state in that moment, both in his poem and in his painting. Munch draws
attention to the momentary intensity of the landscape with brightly saturated, contrasting
colors above the "bluish black" water. While Munch mentions feeling "unspeakably tired"
in his poem, his painting also suggests his lightheadedness and helplessness in the situation.

There's just something unique about this painting and that’s why I adore it.

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