THE MAN BEHIND THE SCREAM
by Bob Brooke

Edvard Munch, notably Scandinavia's greatest artist, pioneered in the expressionist movement., He painted is his best-known painting, The Scream, in 1893. Growing up in Oslo, then called Christiania, he was often ill. Early memories of illness, death, and grief in his family had a tremendous impact on his later works. His father's death may have contributed to the loneliness and melancholy of one of his most famous works, Night , painted in1890.

By the early 1890s, Munch had achieved renown. He was at the center of a succes de scandale in Munich in 1892, when his art was interpreted as "anarchistic provocation." Authorities closed a major exhibit of his work due to protest.

Munch traveled to Berlin, where he joined a world of literati, artists, and intellectuals. Among them was August Strindberg, who discussed the philosophy of Nietzsche, symbolism, psychology, and occultism with Munch. These discussions clearly influenced his work. He revealed his growing outlook to the world in an 1893 show in Berlin, where several paintings had death as their theme. Death in a Sickroom created quite a stir.

In 1896 Munch moved to Paris, where he made exquisite color lithographs and his first woodcuts. By the turn of the century he began painting in a larger format and incorporating some of the Art Nouveau aesthetics of the time. Red Virginia Creeper and Melancholy reflects these new influences.

A nervous disorder sent him to a sanitarium, where he had a turbulent love affair with a wealthy bohemian nicknamed "Tuna." The affair ended in 1902 when a revolver permanently injured a finger on Munch's left hand. He became obsessed with the shooting incident, and poured out his contempt for "Tuna" in such works as Death of Murat, painted in 1907.

Prominent people asked Munch to paint their portraits, so he did. The group portrait of Dr. Linde's sons, painted in1904 is a masterpiece of modern portraiture. Munch became increasingly alcoholic, and in 1906 painted Self-Portrait with a Bottle of Wine.

From 1909 until his death, Munch lived in Norway. In his later years he retreated into isolation, surrounded only by his paintings, which he called "my children." The older Munch placed more emphasis on the monumental and the picturesque, as in landscapes or people in harmony with nature.

In 1940, he decided to leave his huge collection of paintings to the city of Oslo upon his death. Today, the Munch Museum, featuring works illustrating all phases of his artistic development, provides the best introduction to this strange and enigmatic artist. As has been the case with so many famous artists, Munch's fame is far greater today than it was during his lifetime.