Time to Say Goodbye: The Scream

Thursday, May 12, 2011

The Scream

Edvard Munch’s “The Scream” (1893) has captivated people for decades. The image of an alien-like man has begged the question: What exactly is the man screaming about? One must revisit Edvard Munch’s childhood to understand the meaning behind his pieces. Munch unfortunately lost many of his closest family members at an early age while battling a terrible case of tuberculosis. In a private journal, Munch wrote, “"I inherited two of mankind's most frightful enemies—the heritage of consumption and insanity—illness and madness and death were the black angels that stood at my cradle” (Lubow). It is also believed that a genetic mental disorder ran in the Munch family (Lubow). Munch’s contemporary works of art reflect his experiences. His paintings were a direct outlet for him to express his emotions (Lubow). Munch writes that he was inspired to paint “The Scream” after taking a walk during sunset with two of his friends. He claims that he was feeling sad, and that suddenly the sky turned bright red. He was so frightened that he was shaking with fear, and he said that he could hear a blaring scream from nature (Olson and Doescher). Thus, Munch turned his encounter with nature into one of the most famous painting ever created.

The man in the painting could either be saying goodbye to his sanity or simply saying goodbye to his stored frustrations by screaming. Indeed, someone standing in the middle of the street screaming would seem abnormal. However, this could simply be a way in which he chooses to relieve his frustrations. Compared to the normal appearance of the two people in the back of the painting, this man is definitely different. Thus, one may be apt to think that he is losing his sanity. However, this man might just be having a bad day, and this reaction is the result of him saying goodbye to his emotions. After all, people have different ways of expressing their emotions such as cleaning the house or exercising. Regardless, the man is saying goodbye to something. Although we do not know what exactly he is saying goodbye to, the scream serves as a symbol of a goodbye.

1 comment:

StefanNovember 25, 2011 at 6:59 PM
Hi! I really like your blog and i think you should write more. It's very nice to find short, concise information about different works of art. Write more please! It's a request from your no. 1 fan hehe.
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Introduction

All the pieces of art in this gallery have to do with one particular theme: saying goodbye. The subjects in each picture are performing an action that symbolically represents saying goodbye to something. In “Woman with Dead Child,” the devastated woman is grabbing on to her child for the very last time. One can sympathize and feel the sadness that the woman is experiencing as she comes to terms with the fact that her child is gone. In “The Scream,” the man is saying goodbye to his sanity by screaming in the middle of a street as “normal” people walk by. In the somber photograph “John F. Kennedy, Jr. Salutes,” the little boy is saluting his father, his hero, and the President of the Untied States. In “Man Hammers Berlin Wall,” he is moving from a life of oppression to a life of new possibilities. The man is literally breaking down the wall that prevented his life of freedom. In “V-J Day in Times Square,” a navy sailor and nurse passionately embrace in a kiss to celebrate that World War II is over. All of these pictures are different types of art that depict goodbyes of different sorts. Some are happy, some are sad, but nonetheless someone is saying goodbye to something. As one says goodbye to something, one is also saying hello another thing. Some people are scared to say goodbye to certain things or people because in essence the individual has to come to terms with new uncomfortable surroundings or circumstances. On the other hand, others are saying goodbye to something that they deeply dislike and are eager to say hello to a new life. Regardless if the goodbye is happy or sad, the occasion is momentous in one’s life journey, and therefore the act of saying goodbye is worthy of documenting.

Links to Other Blogs

The blog “Women in Mourning” by Belinda Lei evokes sympathy and sadness in the viewer by portraying mourning women in helpless and tragic situations. In each piece of artwork, a woman is experiencing a painful moment in her life whether it be losing a loved one, her civil rights, or being forced to leave a sacred place. While trying to cope and find closure, some of these women are also saying their final goodbyes to someone or something that is important to them. Continuing with the theme of losing a child, Kathe Kollwitz’s “Need or Misery” strikes the same emotions as “Woman with Dead Child” as a grieving mother and a dead child. And although Eve is not mourning a dead child in Masaccio’s “Expulsion from the Garden of Eden,” Adam and her are passionately saying goodbye to their former paradise that they will never see again. Saying goodbye is a very common subject in artwork, therefore it is not surprising that other artists have focused on paintings masterpieces involving this topic.

The blog “Human Emotion” by Daniel Hernandez explains how human emotions are connected to the five human senses: touch, sight, smell, taste, and sound. Each one of the five paintings depicts a human sense. In “Creation of Adam” by Michelangelo, God’s finger touches Adam’s hand. The man and woman in “V-J Day in Times Square” strongly embrace to say goodbye to World War II. The sense of touch is important because it allows the man and woman display their excitement. In Leonardo Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper,” Jesus is saying goodbye to his Disciples with this final dinner. He instructs the Disciples to remember him by eating bread and drinking wine, which represented his body and blood. In order to say goodbye, one must experience human emotion, which cannot be done without the five senses.