Each work of art has its own unique, unlike any other story, its symbolism and its secrets. And in the new section "Pic of the Week" Styleinsider will talk about the fate and stories of the creation of the most famous masterpieces world painting. And the first will be one of the most mysterious paintings in history - "The Scream" by the Norwegian artist Edvard Munch.

Year of creation

Painting versions

There are four versions of the painting in total. There are two paintings in the Edvard Munch Museum. One of them is made in oil, and the other is in pastel. AT National Museum Norway exhibits the most known version oil paintings. Another pastel painting is in private hands and belongs to American businessman Leon Black.

History of creation

“I was walking along the path with two friends - the sun was setting - suddenly the sky turned blood red, I paused, feeling exhausted, and leaned against the fence - I looked at the blood and flames over the bluish-black fjord and the city - my friends went on, and I stood trembling with excitement, feeling an endless scream piercing nature, ”this is how Munch describes the moment when he felt the need to express the feelings that had gripped him. After all, the original title in German that Munch gave to his work was "Der Schrei der Natur" ("Cry of Nature"). However, the "Scream" in the variations known to us did not appear immediately. He was preceded by the canvases "Despair", "Anxiety" and "Melancholy", in which he tried to find perfect image, which will convey that feeling of horror, that emotional tension and that very bloody sunset. We see that in the picture the skies are painted in a bright scarlet color, which impressed Munch so much. In this regard, some scientists have put forward a version that such a shade of the sky was associated with the eruption of the Krakatoa volcano in 1883. There is also a version that the picture was partly the fruit of mental disorder, because there is documentary evidence that the artist really suffered from a manic-depressive psychosis caused by severe shock from the death of his sister.

Interesting Facts

“The Scream has been abducted several times by intruders. So, in 1994, the painting disappeared from the National Gallery, however, after a few months it was returned to its place. And in 2004 "Scream" and more famous work artist's "Madonna" were stolen from the Munch Museum. Both paintings were also returned in 2006. The works suffered some damage and, after restoration, were put on display again in May 2008.

- Based on "The Scream", Andy Warhol created a series of prints-copies in several colors.

- It was on the basis of the picture that the famous mask from the movie "Scream" was created

- "The Scream", among other works by Munch, was recognized as a model of degenerate art in Nazi Germany and was banned. The canvas was saved from destruction and bought from Germany by the Norwegian businessman Olsen.

- At the time of auction in 2012, the pastel version of the painting, owned by billionaire Peter Olsen, became the most expensive work art offered at public auction. The work was sold within 12 minutes for more than $119 million.

– Many consider the picture cursed, since people who in one way or another came into contact with this canvas often fell ill, quarreled with relatives, fell into depression and died suddenly, which is partly confirmed real stories.

Saratov State University them. Chernyshevsky

Analysis of the painting "The Scream" by Edvard Munch

Performed:

Mironenko Ekaterina

course, journalism

daytime group

Introduction

Painter

Possible sources of inspiration

Description of the picture

History of the painting

Painting by E. Munch in world culture

munch expressionist painting cry

Introduction

"Scream" (Nor.<#"justify">1. Artist

“Illness, madness and death are black angels who stood guard over my cradle and accompanied me all my life,” Munch wrote about himself.

"Writing for me is a disease and intoxication. A disease from which I do not want to get rid of, and an intoxication in which I want to stay."

Biography

Edvard Munch was born on December 12, 1863 in Lathen (Norwegian province of Hedmark), in the family of military doctor Edvard Christian Munch. The following year, the family moved to the capital. The father sought to give his five children a good education. But it was not easy, especially after the death of his wife from tuberculosis in 1868. In 1877, Edward's beloved sister, Sophie, died of the same disease. Later, he will dedicate to her a touching painting "Sick Girl".

These heavy losses could not pass without a trace for the impressionable boy, later he would say "Illness, madness and death are black angels who guarded my cradle and accompanied me all my life." Edward took the death of the closest people for a destiny own way.

November 1888, Edward wrote in his diary "From now on I decided to become an artist." Earlier, at the insistence of his father, he entered the Higher Technical School in 1879. However, already in 1881, Edward began studying in State Academy Arts and Crafts, in the workshop of the sculptor Julius Middlethun. The following year he began to study painting under Christian Krogh.

His early works, such as "Self-portrait" (1873) and "Portrait of Inger" (1884), do not allow any conclusions to be drawn about further development creativity of a young artist.

In 1885, Munch went to France and lived in Paris for three weeks. He was lucky not only to visit the Louvre, but also to catch the last exhibition of the Impressionists. Of course, such impressions could not pass without a trace, the paintings "Dance Evening" (1885) and "Portrait of the Painter Jensen-Hjell" (1885) appear. However, the first famous painting by the artist - "Sick Girl" - is characterized by purely individual character and heightened sensitivity. The artist wrote "Working on the painting "Sick Girl" opened up new paths for me, and an outstanding breakthrough occurred in my art. Most of my late works owes its origin to this painting."

In subsequent years, Munch parted with the dreamy uncertainty that gave his works a special charm, and turns to the themes of loneliness. Death, extinction. In 1889 on personal exhibition Munch presented one hundred and ten of his works. Paintings predominate where the artist analyzes the relationship of the figure with the environment, whether it be an interior or a landscape "Spring", "Evening Conversation", "Inger on the Shore".

In 1889, Munch received a state scholarship and again went to France. He remained there until 1892, living first in Paris, then in Saint Cloud. For four months, Munch attended the drawing lessons of Leon Bonn, but the study of old and contemporary masters Pissarro, Manet, Gauguin, Seurat, Serusier, Denis, Vuillard, Bonnard, Ranson. He paints several pointillist paintings - "Promenade des Anglais in Nice" (1891), "Rue Lafayette" (1891). He pays tribute to impressionism in the paintings Maturity (circa 1893), Longing (1894), The Next Day (1895).

But much more interesting to understand further creativity the painting "Night at Saint-Cloud" (1890), written after the death of his father, which Edward experienced very painfully. This work, foreshadowing drama and bright pronounced individuality mature style of the artist.

In 1892, at the invitation of the Union of Berlin Artists, Munch came to Berlin. Here he met intellectuals, poets, artists, in particular, with August Strindberg, Gustav Vigeland, art historian Julius Meyer-Graefe and Przybyszewski. The Munch exhibition, open only for a few days, had a significant impact on the formation of the Berlin Secession.

Soon the artist writes his own famous painting- "Scream". "The Scream" is part of a cycle of works under the general title "Frieze of Life", about which Munch said that it was "a poem about life, love and death." The artist worked on this cycle with long breaks for thirty years. The first date is 1888-1889. The frieze includes "The Kiss", "Barque of Youth", men and women, "Vampire", "Scream", "Madonna". It is conceived as a cycle decorative painting like a canvas of the ensemble of life. In these pictures, behind the winding coastline, there is always an undulating sea, and under the crowns of trees, life unfolds with its quirks, all its variations, its joys and sorrows.

At the turn of the century, Munch also painted landscapes in the Art Nouveau style "Winter" (1899), "Birch under the Snow" (1901), he creates symbolist engravings, lithographs and woodcuts. Munch receives recognition - patrons order him portraits or murals in their homes. So, Munch performed a magnificent posthumous portrait of Friedrich Nietzsche against the backdrop of a gloomy landscape (1905-1906). The scenery made by Munch for the production of Ibsen's drama "Ghosts" by Max Reinhardt received an international response.

From 1900 to 1907, Munch lived mainly in Germany Berlin, Warnemünde, Hamburg, Lübeck and Weimar. The artist created a kind of suite of views of these cities. One of them is the etching "Lübeck" (1903). In this etching, the city looks like a medieval fortress, deserted and detached from life.

In 1909, Munch, after a stay in the clinic of Dr. Jacobson, caused by many months of nervous depression, returned to his homeland. In search of peace and quiet, he longs for solitude for some time lives in Osgorstrand, Krager, Witsten, on the small island of Ielaya, and then, in 1916, he acquires the Ekelu estate, north of the Norwegian capital, which he did not leave until the end of his days.

Features of the new were reflected in works related to different genres. They were especially evident in the portrait, which after 1900 became one of the leading genres in the artist's work. He creates a gallery of sharp and memorable images of his contemporaries, whether they are large custom-made portraits, portraits of friends and acquaintances, or Norwegian fishermen and sailors.

Munch did not paint portraits of those people whom he did not know well. The fixation of external similarity did not satisfy him. Portraits of the artist - research human soul. With many of those portrayed, he was connected by bonds of creative friendship. Among them were August Strindberg, Hans Jäger, Stanislaw Przybyszewski, Henrik Ibsen, Stefan Mallarme, Knut Hamsun and many others from the literary environment of Scandinavia and Germany. The exception is the portraits of Friedrich Nietzsche (1906), "composed by the artist after talking with his sister famous philosopher".

Beginning in 1910, Munch increasingly turned to the theme of labor. He paints the paintings "Spring Work. Krageryo" (1910), "Lumberjack" (1913), "Spring Plowing" (1916), "A Man in a Cabbage Field" (1916), "Unloading a Ship" (circa 1920), engravings "Workers , removing snow "(1912)," Diggers "(1920).

important place in graphic works Munch occupies the northern landscape. A prime example serve as woodcuts "Rocks in the Sea" (1912) and "House on the Seashore" (1915). In these sheets, the master showed the severe epic grandeur and monumentality of the Norwegian landscape.

"The late period of creativity is not the most best time for the artist, - says J. Seltz. - Despite the aesthetic uncertainty inherent in the paintings of the late period, they form the most spontaneous, immediate part of it. In addition, Munch completed at this time large wall paintings, originally created in Kragerö and intended for the assembly hall of the university in Oslo. In 1916, they were brought there, and the artist had to overcome numerous obstacles in order to achieve their approval. The result of long preparatory work turned out to be disappointing. Wildness has given way to perseverance and perseverance one can feel the careful work in the workshop, but even the most interesting philosophical ideas cannot hide the artistic weakness of the works."

The frescoes painted in 1922 for the canteen of the Freya chocolate factory in Oslo are also very weak. In a mean, almost caricature form, Munch recreates some of the themes of his the best pictures. Even more disappointing are the fresco compositions for the Oslo Town Hall, on which he worked from 1928 until his death in 1944. True, he suffered from an eye disease, which forced him to almost completely abandon the work of the artist for many years.

Mental trauma led Munch to alcoholism, hallucinations and persecution mania.

2. Possible sources of inspiration

The literature is not lacking in a variety of versions regarding the circumstances of the creation of "Scream". In the background landscape of the "Scream" one can guess the view of the Oslo Fjord<#"justify">3. Description of the painting

The figure of the screamer is very primitive; the artist conveys to us not so much the facial features, the details of the figure, but the emotion that this figure expresses. The person's face appears as a faceless, frozen mask that lets out a scream.

The outlines of the fjord are only outlined by winding lines - piercing stripes of yellow, red and blue. The diagonal of the bridge and the zigzags of the landscape give the whole composition a powerful dynamic. The tragic grimace of a man's face is contrasted with the peaceful figures of two men.

The sky is depicted in bright, emotional colors: red, orange, blue, etc. The river is depicted in dark and deep colors (black, dark blue), and a great variety can be seen in the color image of the banks.

The reddish sky may have been caused by the eruption of the Krakatau volcano in 1883, when great amount ashes. Volcanic ash tinted the skies reddish in the eastern United States, Europe, and Asia from November 1883 to February 1884.

Stenersen saw an all-consuming fear in Munch's painting weak man, paralyzed by the landscape, whose lines and colors shifted to suffocate him. Indeed, the painting "The Scream" is the apogee of psychological generalization. Munch's painting in this picture has reached exceptional tension, and the canvas itself is likened to a plastic metaphor for human despair and loneliness.

"Scream" refers to the collective, the unconscious. Whatever your nationality, creed or age, you are sure to have experienced the same existential horror at least once, especially in an age of violence and self-destruction, when everyone is fighting for survival," said David Norman, Co-Chairman of Sotheby's board of directors, on the eve of the auction." s.

He believes that Munch's canvas was a prophetic work that predicted the 20th century with its two world wars, the Holocaust, environmental disasters and nuclear weapons.

History of the painting

Munch created four versions of The Scream, each made different techniques. The Munch Museum presents one of two oil paintings.

"The Scream" has been the target of intruders more than once: In 1994, the painting was stolen from the National Gallery. A few months later, she was returned to her place.

In 2004, "The Scream" and another famous work of the artist "Madonna<#"238" src="doc_zip4.jpg" />

Three other versions of "The Scream" have been stolen from museums more than once, but they have invariably been returned to their owners.

There is an opinion that the paintings are cursed. Mysticism, according to art critic and Munch specialist Alexander Prufrock, is confirmed by real stories. Dozens of people who came into contact with the canvas in one way or another fell ill, quarreled with loved ones, fell into severe depression or died suddenly. All this created a bad reputation for the picture, and visitors to the museum in Oslo looked at it with apprehension.

Once a museum employee accidentally dropped the canvas. After some time, he began to have terrible headaches, seizures became stronger and, in the end, he committed suicide.

5. Painting by E. Munch in world culture

At the end of the 20th century, the painting "The Scream" by Edvard Munch gained the status of a symbol of pop culture. Between 1983 and 1984 American artist, one of the pioneers of pop art, Andy Warhol created a series of silkscreen works based on the works of Munch, including the composition "Scream". main goal it was to deprive the picture of the halo of sacramentality, turning it, mainly, into an object easily amenable to mass copying; the basis of this metamorphosis was laid by Munch himself, having performed a lithograph of the picture for the same purpose.

In addition, the Icelandic artist Err presented his vision of Munch's work in the spirit of postmodernism. ?oh, who embodied his ironic and somewhat inappropriate interpretation of "The Scream" in the paintings "The Second Scream" and "Ding - Don" (1979), made with acrylic paints.

The reproduction of the plot of the picture on everything from T-shirts to coffee mugs confirms its symbolism, as well as the absence of any sacramentality around it in the eyes of the modern public. In this regard, it becomes possible to compare it with such a work of art as, for example, "Portrait of Mona Lisa" by Leonardo da Vinci.

In 1991, the American artist Robert Fishbone was able to find his niche by launching the production of inflatable dolls, each of which repeated the image of the central figure of the composition. His company, On The Wall Productions, based in St. Lewis, Missouri, has sold hundreds of thousands of these dolls. Critics unanimously declared that by tearing the central figure out of its immediate context - the landscape background - Fishbone destroyed the artistic integrity of the picture, negating its unique expressiveness. There were those who called Fishbone a speculator and accused him of failing to show his own artistic ability.

Being one of those rare examples contemporary art easily recognizable to the widest audience, "Scream" has been used in commercials, cartoons (including the animated film "Merry Melodies: Back in Action") and anime (including twice in the Japanese parody series "Excel Saga" ( Excel Saga) and once - in the TV series "Naruto" (Naruto); as well as in various television shows. For example, in one of the early episodes of the American sitcom series The Nanny, Grace receives a Scream blow-up doll as a Christmas present. The plot of the picture is also copied by the creators of the animated series "Animaniacs" (Animaniacs) in the series "Hello, dear Warners", when it is passed off as the creation of Dot Warner. Another mention of "Scream" gets in the American animated series "Quite OddParents" (Fairly OddParents, - the title uses a pun based on the phrase "fairy godparents" - "magic God-parents").

The American hardcore punk band "Dead Kennedys" offered their own version of Munch's canvas by placing the drawing on a T-shirt. "Scream" was also used in the American children's animated series "Oh, those kids!" (Rugrats); when baby Chucky, one of the cartoon characters, confesses that the image reminded him of the time his own head got stuck in a sock. In Looney Tunes: Back in Action, another popular animated series, Scream is one of several famous paintings through which Bugs Bunny the rabbit and Daffy Duck the duck flee from the other cartoon character, Elmer Fudd. At some point, the heroes of the film collide with the main character of the picture, which makes him publish his famous scream; at the same time, an identical scream is heard from Elmer, who is stepped on by Bugs Bunny.

The work of the Norwegian painter and graphic artist was equally interesting to both the creators of the series and the filmmakers. The true face of the maniac killer from the horror film "Scream" by the master of thrillers Wes Kraven is hidden under a ghost mask, which was based on central character paintings with the same name. The well-known look on the face of young Kalker, posing in front of a mirror in Chris Columbus's Christmas comedy Home Alone, is also to some extent dedicated to Munch's work.

Sources used in the work

1. Ionina N.A. One hundred great paintings / N .BUT . Ionina ; ch. editor M. O. Dmitriev - M: Publishing house: Veche, 2005, 464 p.

Maya (civilization)

2. [Electronic resource]. Access from the free encyclopedia "Wikipedia" [Electronic resource]: [website]. URL: http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munch, Edvard .

Canvas "Scream", which set a record auction [Electronic resource]: on 19.09.2012. Access in the source "RIA Novosti" [Electronic resource]: [website]. URL: http://ria.ru .

Creek, Edvard Munch [Electronic resource]. Access from the free encyclopedia "Wikipedia" [Electronic resource]: [website]. URL: .

Art of the ancient Maya [Electronic resource], [website]. URL: http://www.rucolumb.ru.

Tutoring

Need help learning a topic?

Our experts will advise or provide tutoring services on topics of interest to you.
Submit an application indicating the topic right now to find out about the possibility of obtaining a consultation.

Artist: Edvard Munch
Name of the painting: "Scream"
Picture painted: 1893

Size: 91 × 73.5 cm

Painting by Edvard Munch "The Scream"

Artist: Edvard Munch
Name of the painting: "Scream"
Picture painted: 1893
Cardboard, oil, tempera, pastel
Size: 91 × 73.5 cm

The painting "The Scream" is considered a landmark event of expressionism and one of the most famous paintings in the world.

Munch wrote 4 versions of The Scream, and there is a version that this painting is the fruit of a manic-depressive psychosis from which the artist suffered.

The sale of this painting once set an absolute record on the art market and at Sotheby's in particular. Expected high price on the famous painting turned out to be higher than the most daring experts expected! However, this record was soon broken ...

"Scream" - the most famous work of the master, well-known iconic image in 20th century painting. Munch conveys the horror that suddenly gripped the hero through color scheme and with the help of wriggling lines that seemed to entangle a screaming person.

Already at the beginning of his career, Munch's exhibition caused a scandal and was closed ahead of schedule: the public was not ready to perceive the heavy atmosphere of his paintings.

Munch, who suffered from a mental disorder, saw the world in a special way: he brought into painting a denial of the harmony of colors and shapes, saturated his works with a philosophy of disappointment and loneliness.

The painting "The Scream" was once in the hands of thieves: in 2004, armed attackers stole the painting from the museum. The painting suffered - traces of moisture remained on it, the canvas was torn. And despite this, collectors considered it an honor to have "The Scream" in their collection.

In 1893 Edvard Munch embarked on his most famous work. In his diary, he recalled a walk in Christiania several years earlier.

I was walking along the road with my friends. The sun has set. Suddenly the sky became bloodshot and I felt a breath of sorrow. I froze in place, leaned against the fence - at that moment I felt mortal fatigue. Blood poured from the clouds above the fjord. My friends moved on, but I remained standing, trembling, with an open wound in my chest. And I heard a strange, drawn-out scream that filled all the space around me.

The backdrop for this experience was Ekeberg, a northern suburb of Oslo, where the city's slaughterhouse was conveniently located, as well as an insane asylum where Munch's sister, Laura, was hidden; howls of animals echoed the cries of madmen. Munch depicted a figure - a human fetus or a mummy - with open mouth clutching her head with her hands. On the left, as if nothing had happened, two figures are walking, on the right, the ocean is seething. Above is a blood red sky. "The Scream" is a stunning expression of existential horror.

The painting was included in a series called "The Frieze of Life". In this series of paintings, Munch intended to depict the universal "life of the soul", but the Frieze of Life is more like an autobiography - it depicts the death of the artist's mother and sister, his own experiences associated with the proximity to death, and plots drawn from Munch's relationships with women . It is safe to assume that it never occurred to Munch that The Scream would take on a life of its own in popular culture- will appear on coffee mugs, pop up in horror films, etc.

On a note:
Do you need eyeglass frames? The site of the oprava.ua eyewear store has a large selection of offers. Models of frames are brought for fitting. Represented famous brands: Ray-Ban, Oakley, Persol, Vogue, D&G, Prada, TAG Heuer, Dolce&Gabbana, Polo Ralph Lauren, etc.

Plot

People are standing on the bridge under the crimson sky. In the landscape, one can guess the view of the fjord from the Ekeberg hill in Oslo (which during Munch was called Christiania).

Essence central image remains a mystery. The artist did not seek to draw this figure. Munch writes the sound itself, the state. See how the lines that paint the landscape and the flashy are coordinated. They seem to be in resonance. Man hears the cry of nature and reacts to it, and nature cannot but respond to the state of man. In fact, this is the idea of ​​universal unity.

In nature, you will not find a single perfectly straight line. And Munch paints the environment exactly in the form in which it was created. “I paint not what I see, but what I saw,” he said.

There are 40 copies of Munch's "The Scream"

About what formed the basis of the "Scream", the artist himself wrote in his diary: "I was walking along the path with two friends - the sun was setting - suddenly the sky turned blood red, I paused, feeling exhausted, and leaned against the fence - I looked on the blood and flames over the bluish-black fjord and the city - my friends went on, and I stood trembling with excitement, feeling the endless cry piercing nature.

What did the area depicted in the picture look like?

The image that was born in Munch is a synthesis of what he felt at that time, those moods that hovered in Norway, childhood fears, endless depression and loneliness.

It is possible that the crimson color of the sky is not an exaggeration. Munch could actually see such a color. In 1883, a powerful volcanic eruption occurred in Krakatoa. A huge amount of ash was thrown into the atmosphere, which is why for several years especially colorful, fiery sunsets were observed around the world.

It is quite possible that the scream that Munch heard was not some kind of idea or hallucination. Near Ekeberg were Oslo's largest slaughterhouse and residential psychiatric facility. The cries of the slaughtered animals, along with the cries of the mentally ill, were unbearable.

Context

There are about forty "Screams" in total. Four of them are picturesque paintings(they appeared between 1893 and 1910), the rest of the works are graphic (including printed graphics and drawings). The picture was conceived as part of the "frieze" - a series about love, life and death.

"The Scream" is part of a cycle of paintings about love, life and death

The Scream was first presented to the public at the Berlin exhibition in December 1893. Of course, no one understood anything, criticism took up arms against Munch, and even the police had to be invited to the gallery so that angry people would not start a pogrom.

frieze fragment

The audience wondered how such a pleasant young man could paint such terrible pictures. However, it was this work that became programmatic for expressionism. She brought piercing loneliness and despair to art. We, who know what the world is waiting for in the 20th century, willy-nilly want to call Munch a soothsayer.

The fate of the artist

Munch's family was extremely religious. His mother died of tuberculosis when Edward was 5 years old. Later, Sophie's older sister died of the same disease. Munch himself miraculously escaped the same fate.

Edward did not graduate from the Royal Christiania School of Design - he did not agree with the principles of academicism and naturalism, which could not be changed. Munch began an independent search for means of expressing his ideas. The first scandal was not long in coming. Critics literally ridiculed the painting "Sick Girl", in which the artist painted the dying Sophie. The canvas was called a miscarriage, a defect. However, Munch did not try to convey the situation in which his sister was dying, it was more important for him to transfer his impressions, pain and loss to the canvas.

"Madonna" (1894−1895). This painting is called the embodiment of Munch's art.

In the second half of the 1880s, the artist became a regular at the meetings of Bohemia Christiania, a community of philosophers, writers, musicians, and artists that existed until the death of its main inspirer, the anarchist writer Hans Jaeger. Under the clink of glasses they discussed politics, social problems, moral crisis society, ideas about sexual behavior and taboos.

Munch's paintings were called miscarriages and degenerate art

In the early 1890s, Munch spent a lot of time in France, where, of course, he saw the work of Van Gogh and Gauguin. And the influence that they had on him is noticeable, including in Scream: bright colors(which Munch did not have before), images of flowing lines, a clearer drawing.

In Munch's workshop, 1902

In the future, the artist's style becomes more and more sharp, sweeping, the subject, mood changes, the anguish that was in early works. Gradually, they began to get used to Munch's art, criticism was no longer so categorical, the artist even had wealthy patrons.

For the last 15 years, the artist has hardly worked - due to a hemorrhage in the vitreous body of his right eye, he began to have vision problems. And when Norway was occupied in 1940 Nazi Germany, Munch again fell into anxiety, this time for the life and property that the Nazis could confiscate. He died in 1944.