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?
okay- that neo counter is way cool.
about the painting. this is one of the most gut-wrenching paintings I’ve ever seen. Munch fully accomplishes his goal, I think. The painting haunts me. It follows me around all day once I’ve run across an image of it. I had never read that quote though- thanks for including it. It verifies what is there in paint already. I’ve always wondered what is so frightening for this person, but I’ve always felt the existential angst, regardless of not knowing the subject’s source of anxiety.
Cindy,
The NeoCounter is pretty neat. I am not fond of the map extending off the side of the sidebar, but I really enjoy using it.
The painting used to have a similar impact on me, but I think it lost some of its power due to over usage in pop culture. Alas!
Peace,
Jamie
i LOVE this painting and it is my blog picture. It is such a great metaphor for my own existential angst i still experience as someone in the process of “becoming” a Christian. That’s the problem with fundamentalists who claim once you ‘accept Jesus into your heart’ after saying the ‘sinners’ prayer, then all your problems go away. Hogwash i say! i experience the peace of Christ but i still experience existential angst. i’d be lying if i said i did not!
EP,
Well said. This deserves some more attention, so I might have to do a post on this topic into the new year. Thanks!
Peace,
Jamie