The Scream

skyline in Edvard Munch 's ''The Scream'' (1893), National Gallery, Oslo.]]

''The Scream'' ('''''Skrik''''', 1893 ) is a seminal Expressionist painting by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch . Regarded by many as his most important work, it is said by some to symbolize Modern Man taken by an attack of Existential Angst . The landscape in the background is Oslofjord , viewed from the hill of Ekeberg . The Norwegian word ''skrik'' is usually translated as "scream", but is Cognate with the English ''shriek''. Occasionally, the painting has been called ''The Cry''.

There is a Tempera on cardboard version (measuring 83.5 x 66 cm) formerly in the Munch Museum , Oslo , Norway (shown below), and an oil, tempera, and pastel on cardboard (measuring 91 x 73.5 cm) in the National Gallery (shown to right), also in Oslo. A third version is also owned by the Munch Museum, and a fourth is owned by Petter Olsen . Munch later also translated the picture into a Lithograph (shown below), so the image could be Reproduced in reviews all over the world. However, one version is currently missing from the Munch Museum, having been stolen by Art Thieves in August 2004 .

SOURCES OF INSPIRATION

in 1895 so that it could be reproduced all over the world.]]

Munch described his inspiration for the image thus:

I was walking along a path with two friends – the sun was setting – suddenly the sky turned blood red – I paused, feeling exhausted, and leaned on the fence – there was blood and tongues of fire above the blue-black fjord and the city – my friends walked on, and I stood there trembling with anxiety – and I sensed an infinite scream passing through nature.

This has led some commentators to propose that the person in the painting is not screaming, but reacting with despair to the scream passing through nature.

The scene is from a road overlooking Oslo, the Oslofjord and Hovedøya , from the hill of Ekeberg. At the time of painting the work, Munch's Manic Depressive sister Laura Catherine was interned in the mental hospital at the foot of Ekeberg.

In ''. More recently, an Italian anthropologist speculated that Munch might have seen a mummy in Florence 's Museum of Natural History which bears an even more striking resemblance to the painting.

In 2003 , Astronomers claimed to have identified the time that the painting depicted. The Volcanic Eruption of Krakatoa in 1883 caused Unusually Intense Sunset s throughout Europe in the winter of 1883-4, which Munch captured in his picture.

THEFTS

]]

On 12 February 1994 the National Gallery's ''Scream'' was stolen. Initially the theft was linked to various anti- Abortion groups active in Norway, but this turned out to be false. After three months, the painting was offered back to the Norwegian government for a ransom of USD $1 million. The ransom was refused, but the painting was nevertheless recovered on 7 May , following a Sting Operation organised by the Norwegian police with assistance from the British Police and the Getty Museum .

On August 22 , 2004 , the Munch Museum's ''Scream'' was stolen at Gun point, along with Munch's '' Madonna ''. Museum officials expressed hope that they would see the painting again, theorizing that perhaps the thieves would seek Ransom money. The paintings are still missing. On April 8 , 2005 , Norwegian police arrested a suspect in connection with the theft. On April 28 , 2005 , it was rumoured that the two paintings had been burnt by the thieves to conceal evidence. On June 1 , 2005 , the City Government of Oslo offered a reward of 2 million Norwegian kroner (about USD $320,000) for information that could help locate the paintings. In early 2006, six men with previous criminal records were scheduled to go on trial, variously charged with either helping to plan or execute the robbery. Three of the men were convicted and sentanced between four and eight years in prison in May of 2006. Two of the convicted art theifs, Björn Hoen, 37, and Petter Tharaldsen, 34, were also ordered to pay 750 million kroner (US $122 million) to the City of Oslo which is where the paintings were previously located. {Link without Title} None of the suspects had been persuaded to reveal the paintings' current location, perhaps due to fear of retaliation. The Munch Museum itself was closed for 10-months for a $6 million security overhaul.

ROLE IN POPULAR CULTURE

In the late 20th century, ''The Scream'' acquired iconic status in popular culture. In 1983 - 1984 , Pop Artist Andy Warhol made a series of silk prints of works by Munch, including ''The Scream''. The idea was to desacralize the painting by devaluating its originality and making it into a mass-reproducible object. However, as remarked above, Munch had already begun that process himself, by making a Lithograph of the work for reproduction.

Characteristic of Post-modern art is Erró 's Ironic and irreverent treatment of Munch's masterpiece in his acrylic paintings ''The Second Scream'' (1967) and ''Ding Dong'' (1979).

The work's reproduction on all kinds of items, from tee shirts to coffee mugs, bears witness to its iconic status as well as to its complete desacralization in the eyes of today's public. In that respect, it is comparable to other iconic works of art, such as Leonardo Da Vinci 's '' Mona Lisa ''. ''The Scream'' is an emotionally very potent work, and the banalization of the image in popular culture can be interpreted as an attempt to defuse the feeling of unease it inevitably provokes in the viewer .

'']]An American Muralist , Robert Fishbone, discovered a gap in the market when in 1991 he started selling inflatable dolls of the central figure in the painting. His St. Louis -based company, On The Wall Productions, has sold hundreds of thousands of them. Critics have observed that by taking the figure out of its context (the landscape), Fishbone has destroyed the unity of Munch's work, thereby neutralizing its expressive force .

As one of very few works of modern art that are instantly recognizable even to people who know very little about art, ''The Scream'' has been used in 's '' Scream '' horror movies, wears a Halloween mask inspired by the central figure in the painting, and child actor Macaulay Culkin 's pose in front of the mirror, in '' Home Alone '' by Chris Columbus , also refers ironically to Munch's work.

REFERENCES

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The Scream