Munch's Silent Scream 

I think there is another important element of context: The red sky was likely caused by the eruption of Mount Krakatoa (in modern day Indonesia), which occured in 1883. The vulcanic ash particles remained in the upper atmosphere for years, causing sunsets all over to the world to be particulary colourful. The eruption (or rather: explosion) of the vulcano was incredibly violent, equivalent to 130-200 Megatons of TNT (for comparison: The most powerful nuclear bomb of all time, the "Tsar Bomba", had a equivalent of 50 Megatons of TNT). The sound of the explosion could even be heard in Perth (Australia), over 3,000 km away. More than 35,000 people died as aresult of the explosion and the subsequent tsunamis. I don't know if Munch was aware of the cause of the sky's colour, but one could say that the "scream" he heard, was - in a metaphorcial sense - the scream of Krakatoa.

Another point of context: they're not standing on a bridge, but on a sidewalk. This is the road down from Ekebergsletta to Oslo ("Ekebergskrenten" on Street View) and the water in the background is the Oslo fjord. If I recall correctly, there used to be a sanatorium located below it (the same one his sister was in) which might've been the source of the scream, if he heard one.

You have a great voice for this. Really enjoy the cut out effects at the beginning.

I knew about Munch's anxiety but i had no idea how present was in The Scream. Excellent as always Uncle Canvas!

The fact that toddler Munch decided to paint a medicine bottle at 12 is really telling. It is heartbreaking and makes all his works a lot more compelling.

this painting scared the daylights out of me when I was little, I didn't even want it near me... my parents had to get rid of the painting so I'd feel safe in my playroom lmao

That's such a beautiful and haunting description of a panic attack

You thought I was feelin you? 😱

This painting scared me so much as a child; it was in my art teacher's room, and I would avoid looking at it every single day. Once I even left class crying because of it and had to stay in another teacher's room. It's weird when I think back on it. I appreciate it much more now, as someone who loves art.

Thank you, i was waiting for a video on Munch, greatings from Norway🇳🇴

This is soooo good. I love the content of this channel to the point of considering watching new videos a great treat! This is the perfect gateway into enjoying art, at least for me.

This painting scared me the first time I saw it.

I've always felt that there was something about this iconic (to the point of being "kitschy," unfortunately) artwork, one I was "feeling" viscerally but not "grasping" intellectually. There is a dread-inducing nightmare logic to the composition, one which the conscious mind can just vaguely intuit but which the subconscious mind immediately grasps and recognizes. Munch himself is having a "panic attack" in the full sense of that phrase (i.e., one that involves a debilitating existential dread). I have felt this before but have never been able to describe the experience adequately. Maybe Munch chose the best route with this masteful work of Nordic Expressionism. Speaking of which, could there be a connection between the experience depicted and the "Germanic" or "Teutonic" cultural disposition toward the suppression (as opposed to healthy processing) of emotions?

Edvard Munch's father and sister died at a mental hospital in norway. His mother had died of tuberculosis. When munch was done with this painting- The Scream there was a lot of hysteria of discussions and debates. Norway had many rebels and even anarchists - Hans Jæger (The Anarchist's Diary) bohemians. There were very heated discussions. At a gathering, a medicine student Munch made it public - that he must be mentally ill because he had painted this picture. Edvard Munch was very upset and he wrote about it in his diaries. After brutally losing his mother to the disease tuberculosis and then father and sister who die in a mental hospital - one is a heartless human being who tears in the personal history of an artist. Edvard Munch isolated himself and yes some absinthe was drunk. He was intimidated and hurt by being used in gossip - for pleasure in medical student circles and among his own. This combination probably led to an admission in 1908. After he then came out after treatment. he was stable for the rest of his enormously artistic life and was a sober man. And no! He did not suffer from a mental illness

Been a regular visitor to your channel. Love your work. Thank you.

I always found this painting to be disturbing in ways I could not figure out why and this video explaining the story, possible meaning of this painting make this painting even more disturbing.

I've been digging through a lot of your old videos and absorbing everything. Wonderfully narrated and tastefully analysed. Still captivating even during revisits.

I was lucky enough to see the Munch retrospective in Oslo in 2013 (?) One of the most astonishing exhibitions I've ever seen, and I've worked in the arts for 25 years!

Probably my favorite painting

Something not mentioned in the video is its size. I had long loved Munch's work when i was a kid, and recognised my own mental struggles in it. So when I was an exchange student in Oslo, one of the first things I did was to visit the Norwegian National Gallery to view this version of 'The Scream'. What immediately struck me was its size. It's not that big. But because its emotionally and visually loud, I assumed the painting would be too. But it's not. It's just enormously arresting, and I still absolutely love its timelessness decades later. ❤️

I love these videos, the main reason, because it shows how hollow "death of the author" theory bleaches the nature of a piece of art; removing culture, context, time, place, and person. It's like reading Oscar Wilde and Alfred Douglas' work, yes, you can read them independently, but knowing their toxic romantic relationship makes reading them an entirely different experience; you see parallels and interplay in their works from the moment they meet, you can tell when their relationship started effecting their writing and in a permanent way, right up until their deaths.

That face when he thought she was feelin him

The manmade bridge and ships cut through and are in conflict with the natural swirly line and the subject is also swirly, like they are being sucked into 'nature'. This could be seen as anxiety over man's conflict with nature while simultaneously being a pat of nature. In Northern Europe the words 'Nature' and 'God' can often be interchanged. This painting could have been called "The scream of God."

They made a great sculpture out of this, that you could modify the front character’s pose to reenact almost anything besides screaming. It’s actually one of the funniest parodies made available to the general public.

This is so good. Such a smooth voice !

My favorite painting ever.

I don't know why but this painting used to terrify me as a kid.

I watched your video on Stanczyk earlier today and unlike that painting, know the full title and story behind the painting helps me to more fully understand and appreciate it.

Always thought it's not so much a scream as a shout, but the "Eeek!" type of "scream".

He is definitely a MUNCH

Thanks nice appreciation of visual art with apt analysis

I always thought it should have been called The Shriek, if it had indeed referred to the subject.

I think Munch was very interested in mankind's place in nature, even as we have built an artificial world for ourselves. In the painting, what is manmade, like the bridge and boats, is very rigid. Meanwhile, nature is curved and formless. Man curves with nature as he is a part of nature. Yet there is a barrier, a literal and physical barrier between him and the world. Nevertheless, nature screams and man hears it. No matter how many barriers we build, we will always hear the scream.

very grateful for this channel :)

you thought i was feelin you?

I have never cared about art, but these videos are amazingly interesting 😁👍

Please forgive my uneducated question, but would you say artists typically paint/-ed with intention to the say, contrast of lines/shapes/colors etc, or simply painted and without awareness, created the complexities we see today?

I think we all can relate to this painting especially in this terrible times of anxiety and climate change...

Am I crazy or did you have like 50k subscribers a week ago? Good job guys love your vids. 🔥

besides munch's words, if the main protagonist was screaming the couple that we see walking in the bridge would look back in shock or out of interest.

Zooming out you suddenly become aware that all of this is happening on a TV screen - an epic space opera playing out for someone’s entertainment. But the actors don’t know they’re actors. To them, this galactic orgy is as real as real gets.

I love this channel

Wonder why the full title isn't more well known 🤔

Very good job

The scream awesome

you thought i was feelin u?

😱

The Scream was inspired when he had a heavy hangover. True story.

Never break a promise.

Putting the C over the mouth in the beginning was a chad move

It looks surprised I need the painting looks shocked

so THIS is where she got the idea...

Cool

Remember when people started spreading the myth that the painting is of a dog? They showed an edited version that lots of people didn't recognize as edited. The actual painting doesn't even loosely resemble a dog

uhhh, maybe it's silent because it's a painting

The bracelets new

I was primary I kinda draw this for the school

It's called The Scream of Nature and he describes an infinite screaming in the inspiration for it, but they're not screaming? I think you're lookin too far into this bruh

Munch ?

smh didnt even talk about mount krakatoa bs

The original title it is not "Skrik"(Scream in norwegian)? Never heard about your version. I mean.. as title.

Idk why but whenever I see scream all I see is a failed attempt at a dog-

Bro has Haki

😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱

This video really didn't need to be made. You and everyone else who talked about this painting added nothing of value to what Munch himself said about how this came to be (1:31).

🙂

Ice spice brought me here

B

Yes I know it's a dog

excelent information but the WOKE BULLSHIT ruined the usability for my class. "They" suggest that thereare more than one person in the body of the screamer. sad

he A MUNCH!!

No way they named a painter after that icespice song

Great video

it looks like a dog

the OG pog face