ART: The story of The Scream - Say Grace Media blog 'Grace Says'

From humanity’s cave dwelling days onwards, people have been creating and sharing art. And every piece of art has at least two stories. That of the creator, and that of the viewer. And it’s fascinating how different the two can be!Now, I’m not saying all art is necessarily created with an actual full-on story in mind. There are plenty of motives for making a piece of art – from the downright prosaic such as a nice commission, to the primal desire to express a feeling or a moment. But I guess I’m kind of counting those as their own stories – flash fiction perhaps!

One of my favourite pieces of art certainly does have a tale to tell. And that’s The Scream by Edvard Munch. There is perhaps no more famous painting in the world, bar the Mona Lisa or maybe Van Gogh’s Sunflowers.

The painting, known as ‘Skrik’ in Munch’s native Norwegian, was made in 1883 by this Expressionist painter. Munch created four versions in paint and pastels, as well as a lithograph stone.

First impressions

On first glance, the title seems no more than a description of what the viewer can see: a central figure, heads on his face, mouth hanging open in a terrified scream. The world surrounding this figure is eerie as well – two further figures stand a little way behind our main man. They all appear to be on some sort of board walk, a yellowy swirling sky dancing behind them above a drab landscape. The brushstrokes are strong and directional. The colours muted and slightly sickening. What does it all mean?

The Scream has been the subject of debate since it was first exhibited. In his diary in 1892, Munch wrote:
“I was walking along the road 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.”

He later also added, as an explanation for his inspiration:
“I stopped and looked out over the fjord—the sun was setting, and the clouds turning blood red. I sensed a scream passing through nature; it seemed to me that I heard the scream. I painted this picture, painted the clouds as actual blood. The color shrieked. This became The Scream.”

Into the deep

A scream of nature itself. A notion that still sends shivers down my spine, and yet also summons in me a strange kind of thrill. As though Munch, that day, was allowed a glimpse into something greater than us all, something base and ancient and terrible.

At the time Munch painted The Scream, his sister was a patient at an asylum near to the site the painting shows. Munch himself is said to have had a horror of insanity. Perhaps this served as inspiration – you could easily imagine a story where the scream of nature causes madness. Or perhaps only those afflicted may hear it?

For me, I have always imagined that the figure has tuned into something primal and deep, something that runs in the background of eternity. It’s very Lovecraftian (and there’s a topic for another day!)

What do you think? Let me know in the comments! And if you’ve not read my first post yet, here it is!