Friday Art Reflection – The Scream
This past Tuesday celebrated the birthday of Norwegian expressionist artist, Edvard Munch, who was born December 12, 1863. While his paintings and prints are numerous and remarkable, he is best known for his painting entitled “Skrik”, or as we refer to it in English, “The Scream”. Previous called “Despair”, Munch attempted to symbolize humanity in the midst of existential angst. It has become iconic in popular culture, making appearances in such shows as “The Simpsons” to inspire the name & famous mask of the successful horror film trilogy “Scream”. Munch himself commented on the inspiration for this piece when he recalled:
“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.”
Given the commeration of his birth and the “joys” of my previous week, I felt this picture was ever so appropriate. What say you?
