
by Edvard Munch, 1893
Sotheby's / New York
May 2, 2012
Petter Olsen
Leon Black
That agonized figure against a blood-red sky has become a universal symbol of modern anxiety. Edvard Munch created The Scream in 1893, depicting a man on a bridge, hands raised to his face, mouth open in a silent howl while two shadowy figures walk behind him. The swirling orange and blue lines of sky and water seem to echo the figure's distress.
Munch described the inspiration in his diary: walking at sunset, he suddenly felt "an infinite scream passing through nature." The painting captures that moment of existential dread, when the ordinary world suddenly seems alien and terrifying. The figure's skull-like face and boneless body suggest someone stripped to pure emotion.
This version, painted in oil, tempera, and pastel on cardboard, is the most famous of four versions Munch created. It has been stolen twice from Norwegian museums and recovered both times. The Expressionist work now hangs at the National Gallery of Norway in Oslo, protected by significantly upgraded security.
Became an icon of existential anxiety and one of the most recognizable images in art history.
Oslo, Norway
Brynjulf Bulls plass 3, 0250 Oslo
Permanently housed
Other masterpieces from the Expressionism movement

Pablo Picasso, 1937
Museo Reina Sofía, Madrid

Amedeo Modigliani, 1917
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Franz Marc, 1911
Alte Pinakothek, Munich

Wassily Kandinsky, 1923
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York

Franz Marc, 1913
Alte Pinakothek, Munich

Franz Marc, 1911
Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis

Käthe Kollwitz, 1903
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Amedeo Modigliani, 1917
Private Collection, Unknown
Luxury wall art with the same mood and energy. Gallery-quality canvas, no museum crowds.
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