Everyone knows the meaning of the word “scream”. A person hears these sounds throughout his life: the cry of a newborn, the cry of the boss, the cry of the soul. But with what is this word associated with people of art?
Scream is not only a sharp and loud exclamation made by humans and animals, it is also a famous and mystical picture of the great Norwegian impressionist Edward Munch.
Description of the picture
There are several options for this work: two are made with oil, one with pastel and one with lithography.
The picture shows a real existing bridge near Oslo. This place cannot be called pleasant: there was a massacre, and next to it - a madhouse, where the artist’s sister was kept for some time. The bridge itself was a favorite place for suicides.
A strange figure of a man or a mummy covering his ears with his hands, as if trying to get rid of an unbearable sound. As Munk himself wrote, it was a cry of nature, of all the space around it.
The overwhelming impression of the picture is compounded by the blood-red sunset over the fjord. In the year of writing the canvas, the sky over Norway was painted in such an uncharacteristic color due to the volcanic ash from the Krakatau eruption.
“Scream” is despair, pain, own impotence, those deep feelings that many cannot convey in words. Edward Munch managed to transform the whole burden of human existence in his oppressive and disturbing image.
Bad reputation
"Scream" is a work of art that in itself instills horror and a sense of anxiety. Many studies have proved the detrimental effect of the picture on the human psyche, especially for emotional people. But this is not all the oddities associated with the "Scream" Munch.
The history of this picture is fanned with secrets and mysticism. Coincidence or not, but after an art gallery worker accidentally dropped this exhibit, he began to suffer intolerable headaches, which ultimately led the unfortunate man to suicide.
A visitor to the museum, where one of the paintings is stored, decided to touch the great canvas. Retribution was not long in coming: not even a month had passed before a fire broke out in his house, in which the poor fellow burned down.
An accident or a curse is unknown, but such oddities do not diminish the significance of a masterpiece. “Scream” is a great work in which the artist, using a brush and paints, was able to unbearably sharply convey the experiences of the human soul.