Edvard Munch is the author of "The Scream". Throughout Scandinavia, this Norwegian engraver and painter is the most famous artist of his time. Recognised as a precursor of expressionist painting, his painting is becoming famous again. Why does this painting haunt everyone who sees it?
The Scream: a very famous painting
Between 1893 and 1917, the painter Edvard Munch produced five versions of his painting entitled "The Scream". One of them in lithography, one in pencil, one in pastel and the other two in paint. The first one is a tempera on cardboard exhibited in the Munch Museum in Oslo. The second is in pastel and tempera. It is done with oil paint and is in the National Gallery in Oslo. The third version is in the Munch Museum and the fourth was owned by Petter Olsen, a Norwegian billionaire. Edvard Munch's Scream was later sold at auction. The fifth was made in Berlin in 1895 and is a lithograph.
Why did the famous painting become famous again?
Edvard Munch's Scream is the most important of the painter's works. It depicts a modern man having an existential anguish attack. Behind him, seen from Ekeberg, is the Oslo Fjord. The man looks like a mummy discovered by the painter. The record sale of a painting at auction was made on 2nd May, 2012. One of the paintings was sold for 120 million dollars. This painting is the fifth highest priced work sold at auction. This representation is still valid today as stress and anxiety are part of everyday life. It has had an impact on all kinds of art: computers, music, comics, film, literature, and animation. With the health crisis caused by covid-19, this painting is again gaining popularity on social networks.
The mystery of Edvard Munch's painting
"Could only have been painted by a madman! This sentence was written on the first version of Edvard Munch's Scream. The inscription is located in the upper right-hand corner of the canvas. Written in black pencil, but blended with the reddish sky, this sentence is not visible to the naked eye. At first everyone thought it was an act of vandalism. After all, what artist would sabotage his work in this way? After thorough analysis, the researchers confirmed that Edvard Munch himself wrote the sentence. It is his handwriting, just like in his notebooks.
In the same category