Art Analysis: The Scream by Edvard Munch

The Scream by Edvard Munch, Courtesy of www.EdvardMunch.org

This piece, The Scream, is Edvard Munch’s most famous and lasting painting. Although this work may seem like just another abstract painting, it actually has a dark meaning behind it. The painting was based on a real “scream” in which Munch had heard. During a night out with friends, he was left alone on a pier (as signified in the painting by the black figures in the background). A piercing scream burst through the evening, thrusting him into a state of fear and dismay. The sky then turned red, and he stood on the pier in fear of what was coming next. The background seems to be held back by the fence, which could signify that he still had some mental integrity, even with all of the neurological issues he was facing. The abstract background could signify that Munch had let the world go abstract in his own mind, as a result of his deteriorating human integrity.