The Scream

The Scream

Edvard Munch (1893) 35 Ð'Ð...”x28 2/3”

The subject matter in the Scream is the figure in the middle that caught me off guard with its dark colors and screaming. The meaning is fear or isolation. The colors used were black, gray, blue, brown, red, and red-orange. The painting was done after the Civil War. Edvard Munch was a famous artist and the Scream was one of his favorite paintings. “The sky was suddenly blood-red-I stopped and leaned against the fence, dead tired. I saw the flaming clouds like blood and a sword-the bluish-black fjord and town-my friends walked on- I stood there, trembling with anxiety-and I felt as though Nature were convulsed by a great unending scream.”(Art 101 Edvard Munch page 459)

The unity is the figure in the middle screaming and the conceptual unity is the scream. Swirling forms are the balance. Swirls are the shapes. Center point is the skeletal figure. The blood sky is the emphasis. The river is the contrast. The focal point is the skeletal figure screaming. The bridge is the isolation. Secondary area of interest is the two figures walking in the background. Munch uses Tenebrism in his painting. The color harmony is complementary colors: red, green, neutral green, and red-orange. There are contour lines in the painting because the painting makes your eyes wonder. There is space between the figure and the sky. The depth is the sky and the river.