![]() The latter is fed by the condition of Munch’s sister and the influence that nihilist thinker Hans Jæger had on the artist, encouraging him to paint his emotional and psychological state, which he might have extended to his sibling.įinally, in 1978 Robert Rosenblum opined that the haunted creature in the foreground of the image might have been inspired by that of a Peruvian mummy, which Munch possibly viewed at the 1889 Exposition Universelle in Paris, as it was buried in the fetal position with its hands alongside its face and bears an eerie resemblance to Munch’s painting. ![]() It may be dubious, but Munch’s recollection of the residual effects of this generational disaster could well have impacted his painting.Īnother motive for the red skies in the painting could be the occurrence of the hypnotic nacreous clouds that can be found in Norway, as they are very similar to those seen in the picture.Įlsewhere, regarding the overarching theme of the painting, people have mentioned that the presence of a local lunatic asylum and slaughterhouse might have inspired the blood-red mania that the image conveys. Some have pointed to the artist’s memory of the immense volcanic eruption of Krakatoa, which affected the colour of the skies in the Western Hemisphere for months over 18, just under a decade before The Scream came to life. Later, he would describe the inspiration for his masterwork in more detail: “I was walking along the road 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.”Īlthough it was Munch who discussed the hellscape over the fjord that initially inspired him, others have sought to dig deeper into the painting, with many questions surrounding the provenance of this blood-red sky and screaming figure, concerned with whether he was being literal or figurative. I painted this picture, painted the clouds as actual blood. I sensed a scream passing through nature it seemed to me that I heard the scream. ![]() I stopped and looked out over the fjord – the sun was setting, and the clouds turning blood red. Under one of his diary entries, headed Nice 22 January 1892, he wrote: ” One evening I was walking along a path, the city was on one side and the fjord below. One of the most substantial accounts of why Munch conceived the painting comes from the man himself. Despite the background noise, one thing is certain – that day, he was inspired or even possessed – depending on how you see it. From blood-red sunsets to his sister’s internment at a local lunatic asylum, many people have offered potential explanations for Munch’s decision to create such a stark piece of work. One of the main reasons The Scream is so storied is the mystery behind what influenced it, with no definitive account ever given by Munch.
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