The Scream

[David Baxter PhD]

Words about The Scream
by vaughanbell, Mind Hacks
January 4, 2011



January?s British Journal of Psychiatry has another short article in its fantastic ?100 words? series, this time on Edvard Munch?s classic painting ?The Scream?.

The image is perhaps one of the most iconic artworks of the 20th century and has spurned as many parodies and light-hearted take offs as straight-up tributes.
However, the BJP piece manages to capture the emotional essence of the original:

Edvard Munch is best known for The Scream, 1893, an image endlessly reproduced in the media to depict mental anguish. Explanations of the meaning behind the image abound, mainly focusing on an outpouring of emotion in response to suffering. Munch?s own explanation is revealed in his diaries, which recall the melancholy of a walk along a bridge with friends. Trembling in fear at the fiery sunset, he sensed ?how an infinite scream was going through the whole of nature?. This dehumanised figure, into which viewers project their own neuroses, is not screaming but blocking out the scream of its existence.
​

Link to BJP on ?The Scream ? 100 words?.

 

[AmZ]

This dehumanised figure, into which viewers project their own neuroses, is not screaming but blocking out the scream of its existence.

My oh my, that is pretty intense, huh?

And just because I love Wikipedia so much ( ):

THE SCREAM - In a page in his diary headed Nice 22.01.1892, Munch described his inspiration for the image thus:
“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.

and

Depersonalization disorder
The environment of The Scream is often compared to that of which an individual suffering from depersonalization disorder experiences, such a feeling of distortion of the environment and one's self

Pretty interesting but a bit intense for me! :yikes:

 

[AllyCat]

This is one of my all time favourite paintings. It just captures how I feel most of the time. I find it very interesting how art imitates life and visa versa.