The Scream

For my paper I selected The Scream by Edvard Munch on page 398. Edvard Munch is looked upon as one of the most significant influences on the development of expressionism. Edvard Munch was quoted as saying "We want more than a mere photograph of nature. We do not want to paint pretty pictures to be hung on drawing-room walls. We want to create, or at least lay the foundations of, an art that gives something to humanity. An art that arrests and engages. An art created of one's innermost heart." I believe in The Scream Munch did just as he said.

The expressionism period was a movement to invoke emotions through art work. In The Scream Munch stirs up emotions through his heavy brush work and the use of unnatural colors. The use of red orange or warm colors in the sunset seems to make them advance or stand out. The thick swirling lines of the sunset and the river create the sanitation of movement. Munch relies on atmospheric perspective to create the illusion of depth. The warm colors in the sunset stand out while the cool colors of the river seem to go backwards. The shapes in The Scream are organic, object found in nature, but Munch has distorted this objects to ec

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How did Munch achieve sunch an enormously disturbing effect? Looking at it we see a deformed screaming figure in the foreground standing on a long straight bridge receding into the distance. We have all felt the emotion to some degree in our life, and so, though we are disturbed by the painting, we are likewise drawn to it. This makes the figure in the foreground stay in the center of the canvas while also bringing it forward. I stood there, trembling with fright. The water is an ugly yellow with the only feature making it recognisable as water being the ships sailing atop it. It is a position we often see people in an asylum do. Yet it seems to blend into the picture by changing color as it swirls around to the sea green hills. The figure in this way becomes a part of nature as it curves around toward an S shape.

Overall, the painting makes for a psychologically disturbing sight. The water is a murky yellow, while the land, a deep blue. The background is a distortrf view of a fjord.

Common topics in this essay:
Edvard Munch's, Scream Munch, Edvard Munch, , edvard munch, warm colors sunset, friends walked, colors sunset, screaming figure, nature munch, red orange, straight bridge, warm colors, scream munch, sun set,

Approximate Word count = 1146
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

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