By: Yoella Gross

Art Essay:
The scream was painted by Edward Munch between the years 1893-
1910. Four paintings of the same picture were made with both pastel
and paint. The pastel versions have layers of different colours to
make a smoother affect with the texture. The painted ones have
more of an isolation of shapes in the picture.

This picture features a figure in the middle representing the artist

Edward Munch, who had just lost his two friends. The figure is
screaming in agony. The painting emphasises the shape of the
mouth, a circle and the roundness of the figure’s face. The painting
floods into the overwhelming distorted background, taking the figure
into this intense chaos of the sky with in the sunset. Then the sharp
line of the bridge cuts the disarray of the back ground, stopping the
continuous movement. This movement is created by the artist using
wavy lines.

The painting is made up of entirely cool colours. It is set at the end of

a sunset when night is about to begin. Munch manages to make the
intense colour red, look not as hot to show how the sun is losing its
strength, because night is about to capture the day. The cool blues
complement the bottle green colour that brings out a sickly hue in
the man’s face. The reds and browns are on the outside of the
painting that leaving the blues and greens in the centre surrounding
the figure.

The painting explores the idea of the man thinking he is alone in a

world of without meaning. The man looks isolated and lost, the
picture portrays a man caught in midst of a scream of loneliness,
angst and terror.