The Scream of Edvard Munch It is one of the best-known paintings that exist in the entire world and has become an icon of our time, that is, a representative work of contemporary society and culture.
The image is attractive, shocking, mysterious. When we have it in front of us, it catches our gaze so much that it is difficult for us to look away from it.
Below you will be able to learn some curiosities about the most famous scream in the History of Art. Do you feel like it? Well let’s go there!
Surprise!
The first thing you should know is that El Grito is not one painting but rather there are four!
Munch made four versions different ones on the same subject, or in other words, he painted four very similar paintings with the same title. The first, the original, is the most famous of all and the one we usually refer to when we talk about El Grito. It was painted in 1893.
Who was the painter Edvard Munch?
Munch is considered Norway’s most important painter. In this country born in 1863so when he made El Grito he was 29 years old.
He had a very unhappy childhood. As a child he lost his mother and his sister to a disease called tuberculosis. His father was a severe and very demanding man who did not make things easy for him.
All this, together with the fact that he suffered from a mental disorder, meant that upon reaching adulthood he became a traumatized and pessimistic man who saw the world in a sad and desolate way.
These feelings were reflected throughout his life in all his paintings.
What do we feel when we see The Scream?
Take a few seconds to look at the painting carefully and think about what you see, what it reflects and what sensation it gives you.
Yes, what you have before your eyes is recognizable quite well: a human figure with a frightened face that is on a bridge.
It seems that it is almost night and we know that what is below is water because in the background we can see two small boats. At the end of the walkway, in the distance, you can also see the silhouettes of two people walking.
Now, do you think Munch sat in front of a landscape during a beautiful sunset to capture nature? Does it seem to you that he wanted to paint something he was looking at in great detail? Of course not!
As you know, many painters, through their talent and their brushes, try to make the image as similar as possible to reality. This painting, on the other hand, does not represent a real scene, it is not intended to be like a photograph. What he wants to show us is a feeling, that is, the viewer who looks at the painting understands that the character feels fear and anguish.
What did the artist do to achieve it? Well, he painted a background landscape made with twisted lines of intense colors and a deformed figure that we don’t know if it is a man or a woman, but we see that it screams in horror.
Detail of The Scream
No matter how much we look at the painting, we do not know what the central character’s face is really like, nor what his clothes are like, nor the things that surround him, because none of that is distinguishable. What we do understand is that this creature feels fear, loneliness, anguish… and that for some reason, it does not feel happy and just wants to scream.
Edvard Munch was very sad, overwhelmed, and wanted to tell the viewer about it through a painting that expressed those feelings that he himself had.
This type of painting that transmits the deepest emotions of the artist is known as expressionist painting and Munch was one of the pioneer artists of this artistic movement.
What was Munch inspired by?
How did Munch come up with painting a deformed figure covering his ears? Well, it seems that four years before he was in the Paris Universal Exhibition of 1889 (yes, the same Expo where it was unveiled the incredible Eiffel Tower) and there he saw a ancient mummy found in Peru. Apparently it impacted him so much that he was inspired by her for the character in her painting.
Certainly the resemblance is quite great, don’t you think?
Beware of thieves!
As I have told you before, there are four different versions of this painting and any of the four is invaluable. Three are in museums and the fourth belongs to a private collector who in 2012 paid 91 million euros for it at auction!
Museums, as you know, have strong security measures, but this was not an impediment for thieves to stealthily sneak in in recent years and manage to steal two of the versions. Luckily the police did a great job and managed to recover them and return them to the place where they were.
I want to see it live
You don’t mind being a little cold, you love nature and you are a fan of smoked salmon? Well, if you ever have the opportunity, head to northern Europe, specifically to Oslo, Capital of norway. You will get to know this fantastic natural paradise and in the process you will be able to come see El Grito in the National Gallery.
If you don’t know enough, you can always go to the Munch Museumwhere the other two are along with many paintings, drawings and engravings by this great Scandinavian artist.