'The scream (the cry)'
EDVARD MUNCH
1895
oil on canvas, 89- 73,5 cm. - Oslo, National Gallery.
"The Scream" is Edgard Munch's most famous work and one of the most easily recognizable paintings of the modern era. Plus, its popularity has been increased in recent times, after being stolen, along with a “Madonna” by the same painter, in one of the most important Art robberies of the last years, already solved. The robbery of the two works caused a huge scandal in the Scandinavian country, since both canvases (stolen while the Museum was open and introduced in a car parked outside) were not insured
Beyond controversies, the painting is nowadays a symbol of the anguish of the contemporary world. The terrible deathly pale figure and the bloody colours of the landscape in the foreground, in addition to the forced perspective, cause an immediate sensation of anguish and anxiety to the observer. Munch himself described this painting with these words: “One night I was walking along a lane, on one side stood the town and underneath the Fjord, I was tired and sick. I stopped to look beyond the fjord — the sun was getting down — the clouds were tinged with a blood-red, I heard a cry across Nature: I almost thought of hearing it. I painted this picture, I painted the clouds like true blood. Colours were crying…”
Text: G. Fernández, www.theartwolf.com
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