The Scream

FA112031
English Language in visual art

Analysis of the scream

GROUP

Wrinkled egg house
Noparut Phaiwari 623220018-3 No. 18
Panupong Buntao 623220029-8 No. 29
Worakrit Phonsack 623220032-9 No. 32
Phanaphao Khamhwan 623220225-8 No.75

Santhiti Saiyot 623220229-0 No.79
Attaphon Chuamuangpan 623220231-3 No.81

CONTENTS 1
2
The Scream
Element of Art 2
Line 3
Shape 3
Form 4
Color 5
Texture 5
Space 5
Value

1

The Scream

by Edvard Munch
The Scream is Edvard Munch's most famous painting. It is an
example of modern art.The picture shows an imaginary creature with
its mouth and eyes open. It is screaming in fear. Munch got the idea
for the painting when he was walking with friends. It was sunset and
the sky was red, like the color of blood. Munch heard a sound in his
ears, like the sound of nature screaming. The painting was made with
oil, tempera and pastel on cardboard. The size of the painting is 91 x
73.5 cm (35 7/8 x 29"). The painting is in the Nasjonalgalleriet
(National Gallery) in Oslo, Norway. From 1893 to 1910, Munch made
four paintings of “The Scream”. Three of the paintings are in
Norwegian museums. The fourth painting has a private owner. In
1994, thieves stole the painting from the Norwegian National
Gallery. Three months later, the painting was found. The value of the
painting is about $55 million.

Element of Art 2

1.Line

With the intentional use of strong lines—both straight and curved
Munch’s brush strokes move the audiences’ eyes directly toward the
distressed figure. The bold curved lines of the sky flow directly into
the figure and continue to form the body of the individual. This
element may represent feelings of chaos and madness. Not only do
the chaotic lines form the body of the individual, but these curvy
lines also shape the landscape that literally weighs down on the
shoulders of the individual as if the force of the figure’s surroundings
create immense pressure on the subject. Likewise, the straight lines
of the road pass underneath the figure while the straight lines of the
railing practically pierce and continue through the individual. Unlike
the twisting lines, the orderly, straight lines seem to stand apart from
the figure and the landscape. While these lines command order, they
move away from the focal point fading into the distance where the
lines eventually disappear. In addition, the lines forming the sky and
landscape create strong movement which appears to carry the
piercing scream from the hellish surroundings directly into the figure.
Furthermore, the strong curved lines give the impression that the
painting itself transmits sound almost as if Munch had intend his
audience to not only witness nature’s scream but also to hear or
experience the shriek.

3

2.shape

All the elements of art are enclosed in shape because, shape is
the enclosed space. This painting uses regular shapes such as the
rectangular fence and non-regular shapes such as the wavy sky.

3.form

Another element that factors into the mood of The Scream is
the simplified, distorted form. Neither the human figures nor the
landscape appear overly detailed. By using simple forms, Munch is
able to force his audience to focus on the emotions that the scene
and subject emit rather than simply viewing an exact depiction of
one particular scene. Likewise, the skull-like faced individual appears
to be sexless, perhaps to appeal to both genders, illustrating the idea
that depression and anxiety are feelings that relate to human nature.
That is, sorrow, panic, fear, and other similar emotions are feelings
that everyone has experienced at one time or another making the
subject matter of The Scream relevant to all. The distortion of the
images in this painting adds to the muddled, unstable state of mind
that seems to be alluded to in this painting. The vast, somewhat-
empty background space that represents the landscape intensifies
the isolation and fear that the figure seems to be experiencing.

4

4.color

Munch used color in this painting mostly to convey emotion
and drama. He really pushed the colors in the direction of his idea,
rather than to paint realistically. There is a powerful contrast
between exaggerated reds and oranges used for the sunset in the
background, and the dull blues, greens, purples and grays used for
everything else. The use of color contrast in this painting works two
ways: to show the intensity of the "blood red" sunset in the
background and the drama of the ghoulish figure on the bridge. Both
of these extremes need each other to work effectively in the
painting; they complement each other like red complements green.
The ghoulish figure was painted with sickly colors: dull yellows, blues,
and purples. Dark and light accents painted over the top hint at the
"screaming" expression of the figure. No attention was given by
Munch to paint this figure with any sense of realism. It is likely this
was a figure of Munch's own tormented mind. Whilst the painting
appears relatively simple, there is a clever contrast between two
pairs of complementary colors: red and green, and orange and blue.
This adds a subtle level of complexity and some interesting color
relationships to the painting. The "blood" red in the sky appears to
be the strongest color, which contrasts against the very weak green
for the land. The orange is also intense, but it is competing for
attention with the blue for the land and water (which is much
stronger than the green).

5

5.Texture

Texture isn't always the way something feels but, how it looks.
As always one element helps bring out another. Since. This painting
uses wavy lines, the texture is smooth and uses the elements of art
well by giving it a rough texture and using lots of lines

6.Space

There are spaces in the image such as The space that is the sky
or even the water is the space to create dimensions in the image. But
there is little because the image doesn't have to be realistic.

7.Value

Value is the shading which is used in a picture. In this artwork,
There isn't much value other than the different shades of color and
black in the clothing ,orange in the sky even the bridge by chasing
the weight of dark and light in the picture