The Scream, 1893 by Edward Munch
By Elizabeth H.
Elys
We live in one of the most
difficult and dangerous ages in all of human history. Insecurity, fear and
risk have come to dominate individual and collective consciousness in this new
millennium. Although global insecurity has been created by terrorism,
pollution, global epidemics and famine, risks have also come to be defined with
respect to more mundane aspects of everyday life. At present time we are exposing
to terrorism, wars, killing, kidnapping...., we face the danger every day.
Some would be willing to argue this,
saying that civilization has come a long way and that mankind is not as cruel
as the record of history shows that he once was. For example, living in the 1th
Century in the Roman Empire must have been difficult, people lived in constant
danger, and most of them died horrible death!
No centuries, any decades in history of
mankind have been safe. The end of the 19th century was a key development
period in modernist thought and existential philosophy, and the writing. 19th
century struggles with human dignity, revolutions spreads through Europe and the
new continent and people were aware what is going on every day.
And of course, Artists began their new
journey. German philosopher Nietzche (1872) believed art was born out of
suffering, and any artist was a tragic character to him.
The science of the time was devoted to changing all that was once certain: for the first time people were questioning the authority of the Bible. Nietzche declared that "God is dead” summing up to sense of loss and hopelessness than many felt. Nowhere is it written that the God exists, that we must be honest, that we must not lie...
The writing of Nietzche seem to link to the work of Edward MUNCH.
Munch was from Norway, an artist, who was a tortured soul, and it showed in his painting.
The Scream was originally displayed in Berlin in 1893, as a part of series of six paintings then called "Study for a Series entitled Love". The original version of The Scream is now located on Norway's National Gallery in Oslo.
Munch was dealt a difficult time with the death of his mother as a child and his sister as a teenager. Most of his family had died, and he was often plagued by sickness. In his diaries, he admits that he struggled with insanity not only on a personal level during his life, but also through his life.
In fact, his sister was hospitalized for insanity at the time The Scream was painted.
When Edward Munch was asked what had inspired him to do this painting, he replied "One evening I was walking along a path, the city on one side of me and fjord below. I felt tired and ill. The sun was setting; the clouds were turning blood red. I felt a scream passing through nature. It seemed to me I could hear the scream. I painted this picture, painted the clouds as real blood.
No matter where your eye first lands on this composition, it immediately is drowning to the central figure. This person appears locked on a state of terror frozen by fear, real or imagined. It is central figure that evokes such a response from the viewer. The silent scream, the shadowy figures in the background are somewhat mysterious. Are they lurking and frightening the screamer or have they passed by and not even noticed the person’s terror?
Munch uses color quite dramatically in this painting. The vivid blood red of the sky, the yellowish cast to the skeletal face and the dark moody colors of the river add to the emotionalism of this piece.
This painting is one of the most appreciated and recognizable artwork in existence. THE SCREAM was definitely the first of it’s the first Expressionist painting. It has a message that other painting of its time had. It is a message for us now; it has a different interpretation in this dangerous world, when we have to face a danger all this time!
The Scream of Awareness for Mankind!!!
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Religion - versus - Marxism…
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