Under a blood-red sky, a skull-like figure on a bridge clutches its head and screams, and the whole world seems to warp around it. Munch turned inner anxiety directly into an image; the painting has become a symbol of modern angst and one of the most famous pictures in the world.
Key facts
- Artist
- Edvard Munch1863–1944 · Norwegian
- Date
- 1893
- Period
- Modern1900–1930
- Medium
- Tempera, oil and crayon on cardboard
- Dimensions
- 91 × 73.5 cm
- Location
- National Museum of Norway Oslo, Norway
Actual size
Compared with an adult 170 cm tall
Palette
#826F5E#6A5D54#A77756#554C4A#9D583EBackground
Munch described the inspiration in his diary: “I was walking along the road with two friends, the sun was setting, suddenly the sky turned blood red... I stood there trembling with anxiety, and I sensed an infinite scream passing through nature.”
The setting is the Ekeberg hill overlooking the fjord near Oslo. Munch made several versions: two paintings, two pastels and a series of lithographs. This is the first painted version of 1893, in the National Museum of Norway.
It belongs to Munch's “Frieze of Life”, a cycle exploring love, anxiety, jealousy and death.
Technique & composition
Munch painted and in writhing, wave-like lines; only is a straight diagonal plunging to the lower left. The clash of curves and straight lines creates intense unease and vertigo.
is reduced to a skull-like form without sex or age, hands over its ears, mouth an open oval. Its body merges with the swirling background, as if consumed by anxiety.
Munch mixed tempera, oil and crayon on cardboard, leaving the board visible in places, which gives the surface a raw, hurried quality.
Details
Symbolism
Existential anxiety
The figure is not itself screaming but covering its ears against “an infinite scream passing through nature”. It expresses an unspeakable fear and loneliness before the world, often seen as an image of modern existential anxiety.
The indifferent companions
behind continue walking, oblivious to the protagonist's terror, emphasising the isolation of the individual in suffering.
The blood-red sky
Some scientists suggest the red sky may reflect the vivid sunsets after the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa, or rare nacreous clouds over Norway. Most, however, see it as a projection of Munch's inner state.
Stories
- Did you know?
In the sky at upper left is a barely visible pencil inscription: “Could only have been painted by a madman!” In 2021 the National Museum of Norway confirmed through handwriting analysis that Munch wrote it himself.
- Did you know?
The Scream has been stolen twice: this version was taken from the National Gallery in Oslo on the opening day of the 1994 Winter Olympics and recovered months later; in 2004 armed robbers took another version from the Munch Museum, recovered two years later.
- Did you know?
In 2012 a pastel version of 1895 sold for about $120 million, then the highest price ever paid at auction for a work of art. The “face screaming in fear” emoji is widely thought to be inspired by it.
Legacy
The Scream is a forerunner of , proving that painting could express inner experience rather than imitate the outer world. It influenced the German Expressionists, Francis Bacon and the visual language of horror films; the mask in the film Scream derives from it.
