Edvard Munch - The Scream
Edvard Munch’s most iconic work is another of those paintings that really requires no explanation.
As one of the most famous artworks in the world - The Scream is a piece that even people with little to no art knowledge at all will still be able to recognise on sight.
And of course, as a kind of universal symbol for overwhelming anxiety or a kind of fundamental “terror of existence” . . . it is not exactly subtle.
However, one thing that many people may not know, is that there are actually four different versions of this painting. (not to mention the short run of lithographs that Munch also commissioned during his lifetime - many of which he hand coloured personally)
So, today - rather than spend our time overanalysing a painting which I’m sure is already so familiar to us all . . . let’s use this as a chance to bring all four versions together, and see how their fates have differed over the years.
We start with this version (above) from 1893- which many believe to have been the earliest of the four.
Painted with pastels on cardboard; it has all the hallmarks of a first draft, with the unrefined composition and overall sense that the colour has been frantically scribbled down (probably in fear that the original idea might fade from the artist’s mind unless it is given form as quickly as possible.)
But while this is undoubtedly a terrifying image in its own right - still, it is no match for the next version, which Munch painting in oils later that same year.
This version - housed in Oslo’s National Museum of Norway - is probably the most widely known; leading many to label it as the “real” scream.
And as we can see, it is a lot more finished than the earlier version - though, admittedly, the sense of an artist’s frantic desperation still remains.
Once again, it is a work painted on carboard (a surprisingly common base Munch used for all four screams, and many of his other works too) - but this time, the rich oil and tempera colours add a whole new depth to the emotional anguish we are witnessing here.
Incidentally, this 1893 edition was also the first version to be subject to an art theft too - when, in 1994, two men stole the work straight from the walls of it’s museum home on the same day that most attention in Norway happened to be fixed on the opening of the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer.
The thieves then got in touch with authorities a short while later, demanding $1 million dollars for its safe return.
But fortunately, the Norwegian police (in collaboration with British assistance too) were already fairly confident of being able to track the painting.
Thus, the museum refused to pay the ransom - and only a few months later in May of 1994, the 1893 edition of The Scream was brought back to its rightful home entirely undamaged.
Though, as fate would have it, this would not be the last time Munch’s work was to be stolen.
In August of 2004, our third version of the Scream - (painted in 1910, and seen above) was also the subject of an art theft . . . this time, from Oslo’s Munch Museum.
It was stolen alongside a second painting by Munch of a female nude; only, unlike the theft that happened a decade beforehand in the Museum of Norway, the mission to solve this particular case would prove far more complicated.
_
Though arrests were made within the first year of the work being stolen - the trail of evidence to actually finding the painting itself was completely cold. And as more time went by, many experts feared that the painting may have been destroyed (either intentionally - or, more likely, accidentally; as, remember, this was a work on carboard after all!)
Thus, it would remain missing for a full two years, before finally - quite out of the blue - Norwegian authorities announced they had recovered both The Scream and the female nude painting together.
Both works had indeed been damaged (and admittedly, the fact that almost no other information was given of their recovery does seem to suggest that a ransom may have been paid this time).
But, fortunately restoration attempts have proven successful - and since 2008, the 1910 version of the Scream has been safely on public display at the Munch Museum once again.
So, I suppose we can only hope now that there will be no more thefts or damages in the future for this work (in any of its versions!)
However, in 2012, The Scream did hit the headlines around the world yet again . . . this time, for a particularly significant auction sale.
The fourth and final version of this iconic artwork is another pastel painting - believed to be slightly earlier than our 1910 painting, with most experts dating it around 1895.
And unlike the others - this artwork had been in private ownership pretty much for its entire life. So, naturally, when it was listed for auction again there was a great deal of excitement across the art world over what price it might achieve, or whether another museum may come in for it!
Bidding started at an already eye watering $40 million mark . . . but, a short time late, the sale was won by a private collector, who paid just under $120 million for the work.
A truly extraordinary price for any artwork - not least, one that was drawn on a small piece of cardboard!
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Bonus picture
P.s I couldn’t leave this article without sharing one of the lithograph versions of the Scream too.
I found it interesting that the central figure is nearly identical in all 4 versions, but the background figures change. In all 4 versions they seem to be utterly indifferent to the screaming figure, but that's probably the point Munch is making. Thanks for showing us all 4 together!
It's kind of shocking how different all the versions feel. As if the reason of terror was different each time. Feels like a story rather than new versions of the same experince.