As a few art historian friends pointed out a couple of weeks ago, I may be the last person to find this out. Apparently Edvard Munch's The Scream is in fact a self-portrait expressing his own agoraphobia. Walking with a couple of friends (they're in the painting) he fell behind and was overcome by his fear of open spaces. This post goes out to all others who have been thus far living in ignorance. Thanks to my brother for the use of his photograph of the painting.
The Scream, Edvard Munch, 1893, tempera and casein on cardboard
Comments
Nick Burka - November 20, 2003 12:02 pm
Another interesting fact about the painting is that the pose is borrowed from a Peruvian mummy that Munch had seen at the Trocadero exhibition in Paris. I couldn't find the exact image of the specific mummy, but it's very much like this one. Gauguin also saw the exhibition and his depiction of The Wine Harvest at Arles and several other works reflect the contorted pose.
Mita - November 22, 2003 10:35 am
Just so that everyone knows, it's not the figure in the painting that is doing the screaming - it's the landscape that surrounds the figure. <p>
<i>My friends walked on. I stood there, trembling with fright. And I felt a loud, unending scream piercing nature</i>
That's why the figure is covering its ears.
And the gorilla at the Toronto Zoo is named Charles.
Martin - November 23, 2003 11:52 am
From what I remember about recent reports, the painting is often misunderstood.
It was always originally supposed to be a person screaming.
However, recent analysis revealed that the person screaming cannot be seen in the picture, and the subject is covering their ears to protect themself from the noise of the 'scream'...
Vern - November 25, 2003 9:17 am
I still feel it was more a case of a self portrait depicting 'oh bugger I left the chip pan on again'
Steven Garrity - December 9, 2003 9:57 pm
Yahoo News: Why the Sky Was Red in Munch's 'The Scream' - apparently it was Krakatoa.
Jessica - June 27, 2005 1:53 pm
i am doing a report on Edvard Munch. If you would like to help me with it i would appreciate it alot. I just need interesting facts about him. I also need facts about his famous painting "The Scream", like what its worth and just stuff like that.
Jessica - June 27, 2005 1:54 pm
Email me about the facts.
priya xxxx - September 16, 2005 3:40 pm
hi i need 6 facts for school about the scream and edvard munch. can you help me? it would be very appreciated if you could. thanks if you can
Nicole - September 18, 2005 6:40 pm
Hey, like, i dunno how ta use a serch engine too, so plz send me facts cuz college is hard and i have a report. thx!1