The Scream (Painting)

“The Scream” is one of the most iconic images in art history, created by the Norwegian artist Edvard Munch. It depicts a figure with an agonized expression against a tumultuous sky. The painting is often interpreted as representing the universal anxiety of modern humanity. Edvard Munch was inspired by a variety of sources when creating “The Scream.” One significant source was a walk he took at sunset, which he described in his diary:

“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.”

Additionally, Munch’s interest in themes like existential angst, psychological suffering, and human emotion influenced his work. The original name is not The Scream . The original German title given by Munch to his work was Der Schrei der Natur ( The Scream of Nature ), and the Norwegian title is Skrik ( Shriek ). There are four versions of “The Scream,” created using different media: two paintings (1893, 1910), a pastel (1893), and a lithograph (1895). The 1893 version in tempera on cardboard is the most famous and is housed at the National Gallery in Oslo, Norway.

The 1910 version is in the Munch Museum in Oslo. The 1893 version of “The Scream” has a faint inscription in pencil at the top left, which reads, “Kan kun være malet af en gal Mand!” that translates, “Could only have been painted by a madman.” This was confirmed by curators to be in Munch’s handwriting, suggesting it was a response to critiques questioning his sanity. On February 12, 1994, the same day as the opening of the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer,

Norway, the National Gallery’s 1893 version of “The Scream” was stolen. It was recovered in a sting operation by the Norwegian police in May 1994. On August 22, 2004, masked gunmen stole the 1910 version of “The Scream” and another Munch painting, “Madonna,” from the Munch Museum in Oslo.

The paintings were recovered by the police in 2006, but they suffered some damage. In May 2012, the 1895 pastel-on-board version of “The Scream” was sold at Sotheby’s for nearly $120 million, setting a record for the highest price ever paid for a work of art at auction at that time. “The Scream” has permeated popular culture, inspiring various adaptations and references in movies, television, literature, and art. It has been parodied and referenced in shows like “The Simpsons,” films like “Home Alone,” and even appeared in fashion and advertising.

The painting’s title and the figure’s expression inspired the mask worn by the antagonist in the “Scream” film series, created by Wes Craven. The Ghostface mask has become an iconic symbol in horror film history. The expression of Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) in the poster for the 1990 film Home Alone was inspired by The Scream. The Pink Floyd album, the Wall, includes art that mimics the painting. In 1983–1984, pop artist Andy Warhol made a series of silk screen prints copying works by Munch, including The Scream.

His stated intention was to desacralize the painting by making it into a mass-reproducible object. The principal alien antagonists depicted in the 2011 BBC series of Doctor Who, named “The Silence”, have an appearance partially based on The Scream.

A simplified version of the subject of the painting is one of the pictographs that was considered by the US Department of Energy for use as a non-language-specific symbol of danger to warn future human civilizations of the presence of radioactive waste.