„I was walking along a path with two friends – the sun was setting – suddenly the sky turned blood red – I paused, feeling exhausted, and leaned on the fence – there was blood and tongues of fire above the blue-black fjord and the city – my friends walked on, and I stood there trembling with anxiety – and I sensed an infinite scream passing through nature.“ – Edvard Munch on his inspiration for the „Scream“ - one of the most famous expressionist paintings of all time. Seeing this painting for the first time, a long time ago, made me fall in love with expressionism. It didn't depict a pretty scenery, it wasn't about some dreamy landscapes, it wasn't soothing, it wasn't nice, lovely, it wasn't painted realistic, and it certainly wasn't a beautiful sight. It was all about how it's like to experience something; it depicted an intense emotion, a state of mind, a real story that was far from real, a distorted perception, how what was inside got on the outside. I loved it instantly. Made me think. Feeling his scream and how he experienced it, then seeing the two other figures walking calmly behind him in the distance, completely unaware of what he is experiencing inside of his head made me think about how truly remarkable it is that we all experience reality differently – seeing it from within. I remember thinking – this is it, this is art. A perfect release and transference of emotion in material form – a masterpiece. (And I could never understand people who don’t get it).
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| Scream executed in oil, tempera, pastel on cardboard, in 1893 by Edvard Munch |
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| Scream translated into a lithograph, in 1895 by Edvard Munch |
