- published: 25 Jun 2014
- views: 29816
The Scream (Norwegian: Skrik) is the popular name given to each of four versions of a composition, created as both paintings and pastels, by the Expressionist artist Edvard Munch between 1893 and 1910. Der Schrei der Natur (The Scream of Nature) is the title Munch gave to these works, all of which show a figure with an agonized expression against a landscape with a tumultuous red sky. The landscape in the background is the Oslofjord, viewed from Ekeberg, Oslo, Norway.
Edvard Munch created the four versions in various media. The National Gallery, Oslo, holds one of two painted versions (1893, shown at right). The Munch Museum holds the other painted version (1910, see gallery) and a pastel version from 1893.
The fourth version (pastel, 1895) sold for $119,922,500 at Sotheby's Impressionist and Modern art auction on 2 May 2012 to a private buyer, the highest nominal price paid for a painting at auction. (The Card Players by Paul Cézanne was sold privately in 2011 for between $250 and 300 million.)
Edvard Munch (Norwegian pronunciation: [ˈmʉŋk], 12 December 1863 – 23 January 1944) was a Norwegian painter and printmaker whose intensely evocative treatment of psychological themes built upon some of the main tenets of late 19th-century Symbolism and greatly influenced German Expressionism in the early 20th century. One of his most well-known works is The Scream of 1893.
Edvard Munch was born in a rustic farmhouse in the village of Ådalsbruk in Løten, to Christian Munch, the son of a priest. Christian was a doctor and medical officer who married Laura Catherine Bjølstad, a woman half his age, in 1861. Edvard had an elder sister, Johanne Sophie (born 1862), and three younger siblings: Peter Andreas (born 1865), Laura Catherine (born 1867), and Inger Marie (born 1868). Both Sophie and Edvard appear to have inherited their artistic talent from their mother. Edvard Munch was related to painter Jacob Munch (1776–1839) and historian Peter Andreas Munch (1810–1863).
The family moved to Christiania (now Oslo) in 1864 when Christian Munch was appointed medical officer at Akershus Fortress. Edvard's mother died of tuberculosis in 1868, as did Munch's favorite sister Johanne Sophie in 1877. After their mother's death, the Munch siblings were raised by their father and by their aunt Karen. Often ill for much of the winters and kept out of school, Edvard would draw to keep himself occupied, and received tutoring from his school mates and his aunt. Christian Munch also instructed his son in history and literature, and entertained the children with vivid ghost-stories and tales of Edgar Allan Poe.
C'mon everybody, let's do the scream
Sharon do the twist, do that fish Mary-Lou
Well Sheila do the pony and everybody scream
Peggy-Sue do the slop, Lucille do the bop
Donna-Donna do the dive, well everybody scream
It's something that has started way out in L.A.
It keeps on movin' through the U.S.A.
They do it down in Tennessee, on bandstands too
In Paris and in London and in Honolulu
Mary-Jane mashed patatoes
Now what you see is the locomotion
The hully-gully and the popeye, now everybody scream
And everybody scream
In New York City and in Boston too
Well it's the proper thing to do
In Detroit, Chicago and in Cleveland too
Well everybody's doin' it so why don't you
Pittsburg, New Orleans, Dallas, Portland