It is difficult to find a picture that would be as well known as The Scream. More than a century has passed since its inception, and there is still no consensus on what is depicted on it. Moreover, over the years, the picture only acquires mystical mysteries. For example, there is a horror story that the Scream is cursed: after contact with it, dozens of people fell ill, fell into severe depression, or died suddenly. What is hidden in Munch's "Scream"?
Edvard Munch. Scream. 1893
Cardboard, oil, tempera, pastel. 91 × 73.5 cm. National Gallery, Oslo
Wikimedia Commons
Plot
People are standing on the bridge under the crimson sky. In the landscape, one can guess the view of the fjord from the Ekeberg hill in Oslo (which during Munch was called Christiania).
The essence of the central image remains a mystery. The artist did not seek to draw this figure. Munch writes the sound itself, the state. See how the lines that paint the landscape and the flashy are coordinated. They seem to be in resonance. Man hears the cry of nature and reacts to it, and nature cannot but respond to the state of man. In fact, this is the idea of universal unity.
In nature, you will not find a single perfectly straight line. And Munch paints the environment exactly in the form in which it was created. “I paint not what I see, but what I saw,” he said.
About what formed the basis of the "Scream", the artist himself wrote in his diary: "I was walking along the path with two friends - the sun was setting - suddenly the sky turned blood red, I paused, feeling exhausted, and leaned against the fence - I looked on the blood and flames over the bluish-black fjord and the city - my friends went on, and I stood, trembling with excitement, feeling the endless scream piercing nature.
What did the area depicted in the picture look like?
The image that was born in Munch is a synthesis of what he felt at that time, those moods that hovered in Norway, childhood fears, endless depression and loneliness.
It is possible that the crimson color of the sky is not an exaggeration. Munch could actually see such a color. In 1883, a powerful volcanic eruption occurred in Krakatoa. A huge amount of ash was thrown into the atmosphere, which is why for several years especially colorful, fiery sunsets were observed around the world.
On the pages of his diary in the entry "Nice 01/22/1892", Munch describes the source of his inspiration as follows:
"I was walking along the path with two friends - the sun was setting - suddenly the sky turned blood red, I paused, feeling exhausted, and leaned against the fence - I looked at the blood and flames over the bluish-black fjord and the city - my friends went on, and I stood trembling with excitement, feeling the endless cry piercing nature.
It is quite possible that the scream that Munch heard was not some kind of idea or hallucination. Near Ekeberg were the largest slaughterhouse in Oslo and a psychiatric clinic. The cries of the slaughtered animals, along with the cries of the mentally ill, were unbearable.
There are 40 copies of Munch's The Scream.
Context
The Scream is part of a cycle of paintings about love, life and death...
There are about forty "Screams" in total. Four of them are pictorial paintings (they appeared between 1893 and 1910), the rest are graphic works (including prints and drawings). The picture was conceived as part of the "frieze" - a series about love, life and death.
The Scream was first presented to the public at the Berlin exhibition in December 1893. Of course, no one understood anything, criticism took up arms against Munch, and even the police had to be invited to the gallery so that angry people would not start a pogrom.
frieze fragment
The public wondered how such a pleasant young man could paint such horrible pictures. However, it was this work that became programmatic for expressionism. She brought piercing loneliness and despair to art. We, who know what the world is waiting for in the 20th century, willy-nilly want to call Munch a soothsayer.
The fate of the artist
Munch's family was extremely religious. His mother died of tuberculosis when Edward was 5 years old. Later, Sophie's older sister died of the same disease. Munch himself miraculously escaped the same fate.
Edward did not graduate from the Royal Christiania School of Design - he did not agree with the principles of academicism and naturalism, which could not be changed. Munch began an independent search for means of expressing his ideas. The first scandal was not long in coming. Critics literally ridiculed the painting "Sick Girl", in which the artist painted the dying Sophie. The canvas was called a miscarriage, a defect. However, Munch did not try to convey the situation in which his sister was dying, it was more important for him to transfer his impressions, pain and loss to the canvas.
"Madonna" (1894−1895). This painting is called the embodiment of Munch's art.
Edvard Munch. Madonna. 1894
Canvas, oil. 90.5 × 70.5 cm. Munch Museum, Oslo
Wikimedia Commons
In the second half of the 1880s, the artist became a regular at the meetings of Bohemia Christiania, a community of philosophers, writers, musicians, and artists that existed until the death of its main inspirer, the anarchist writer Hans Jaeger. To the clink of glasses, they discussed politics, social problems, the moral crisis of society, ideas about sexual behavior and taboos.
In the early 1890s, Munch spent a lot of time in France, where, of course, he saw the work of Van Gogh and Gauguin. And the influence that they had on him is noticeable, including in The Scream: bright colors (which Munch did not have before), images of flowing lines, a clearer drawing.
In Munch's workshop, 1902
In the future, the artist's style becomes more and more sharp, sweeping, the subject, mood changes, the anguish that was in his early works goes away. Gradually, they began to get used to Munch's art, criticism was no longer so categorical, the artist even had wealthy patrons.
For the last 15 years, the artist has hardly worked - due to a hemorrhage in the vitreous body of his right eye, he began to have vision problems. And when Norway was occupied by Nazi Germany in 1940, Munch again fell into anxiety, this time for life and property that the Nazis could confiscate. He died in 1944.
Munch's paintings were called miscarriages and degenerate art
Versions of "Scream" and their location
Munch created four versions of The Scream using different techniques:
* The Munch Museum presents one of two oil paintings and one pastel.
* The most famous, second version is exhibited in the National Museum of Norway (ill. on the right). It is painted in oils.
* The only version of the plot that remains in private hands is in pastel. It belonged to Norwegian billionaire Petter Olsen, who put it up for auction on May 2, 2012. As a result, the painting was sold to Leon Black for 119 million 922 thousand 500 dollars, which at that time represented a record for works of art.
"Scream" has repeatedly become the target of intruders:
* In 1994, the painting was stolen from the National Gallery. A few months later, she was returned to her place.
* In 2004, "The Scream" and another famous work of the artist "Madonna" were stolen from the Munch Museum. Both paintings were returned in 2006. They suffered some damage and were shown again in May 2008 after restoration.
The painting "The Scream", created presumably at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century, has gained incredible popularity in our time. She has been repeatedly parodied, created comics and reimagined sketches. The image from the picture was used in advertising, cartoons, videos. The idea of a mask from the horror movie "Scream" was inspired by this particular painting. There are legends about the curse of the picture - there are many mysterious diseases, deaths, mysterious cases around it.
Was this painting painted by Vincent van Gogh? The painting "The Scream" was originally called "The Cry of Nature".
Painter Van Gogh
Vincent van Gogh was born on March 30, 1853 in the village of Grotto (Netherlands). In addition to him, the pastor's family had five more children. And only one of them, the younger brother Theo, was of great importance in the life of Vincent. Theo financed his brother all his life, he alone believed in his genius.
Van Gogh, according to family tradition, tried himself as a commission agent in an art and trading company, was a preacher and teacher. Having failed in these fields, he turned to art.
While studying painting, Van Gogh copied the paintings of masters of past centuries. He studied the intricacies of the craft on the example of brilliant artists. At the same time, he created his own unique author's style.
Introduction to painting
By the age of 30, Van Gogh devoted himself entirely to painting. In landscapes, still lifes, portraits, the artist was looking for his color and light. He often worked in nature - under the hot sun or in the piercing wind. Van Gogh rapidly deteriorated. He was treated several times in a psychiatric clinic. The artist understood that the frequent attacks and hallucinations indicate an imminent death.
He furiously sets to work, depicting a bright and beautiful world ("Harvest", "Fishing Boats in Sainte-Marie", "La Crot Valley"). In periods of melancholy and loneliness, a completely different mood of the paintings appears (“At the Gates of Eternity”, “Night Cafe in Arles”, “Prisoners' Walk”). When you look at these canvases, you get the feeling that the painting “The Scream” was created in the same condition. Van Gogh is often considered the author of this masterpiece. Is this statement true?
His only sale during his lifetime was the painting Red Vineyards at Arles. Remaining misunderstood by his contemporaries, the artist contemplates suicide. On July 29, 1890, he shot himself in the chest with a pistol. Van Gogh always understood that his time was limited. He worked with the last of his strength, devoting himself to art. The museum in Amsterdam, dedicated to the work of the insane artist, annually gathers crowds of tourists and fans.
Realizing his genius, was Van Gogh happy in life? The picture "Scream" is full of ringing horror and hopelessness. But who is the author of this painting?
Starry night painting
One of the most Van Gogh, in addition to fields and sunflowers, is the painting "Starry Night". The fact is known that it was written in the psychiatric hospital of Saint-Remy. During periods of improved health, the artist was allowed to paint.
Brother Theo made sure that Vincent was given a separate room for painting. Van Gogh depicted local landscapes and flowers from life. But Starry Night was written from memory. The movements of the stars are depicted in broad strokes - the luminous lights seem to spin in a spiral in a bizarre dance. Thin branches of cypress stretch to the sky. And under this mysterious firmament, the village froze, surrounded by the blue of the sky.
What did Van Gogh want to say with his painting? The painting "Scream" resembles the style of "Starry Night". The same internal anxiety - the insignificance of man before the power of nature. A sense of misfortune, impending despair peep through the cosmic immensity of being.
Reality or altered state?
Among art historians and psychiatrists, there is still debate about how truthfully Vincent van Gogh saw reality. "The Scream" is an unusual picture. It clearly points to the deformation of the artist's consciousness.
The late painting of Van Gogh is the fruit of research into the work of the mentally ill. Psychiatrists, far from the evolution of art, call the artist's painting the fruit of an altered consciousness. They argue that reality in his canvases passes through the prism of an unhealthy state. The unusual style indicates the pathology of the mental state.
Opinion of art historians
Art historians, on the contrary, agree that Van Gogh's painting is a manifestation of genius. The unique style, based on the classics and impressionism, indicates the individualism of the artist. Between bouts of madness and hallucinations, Van Gogh showed amazing accuracy in setting artistic goals and objectives. His self-control emphasizes the clarity of thinking at the moment of creation.
A means for creating an imaginary world - this is how Van Gogh sees his painting. The painting "The Scream" is permeated with a gloomy foreboding of trouble. The rattling haze to the scream of horror in the foreground is a truly mystical premonition of a future catastrophe.
History of the ear
Paul Gauguin was a friend of Van Gogh. In 1888 they decided to spend the winter together in Arles. The temper of both painters, their violent quarrels led to trouble. In a half-mad state, Vincent cut off his ear after the scandal with Gauguin - this is one of the versions of the artist's act.
According to another version, the joint drinking of alcohol and heated arguments about painting led to a small brawl between friends. Maybe it was Gauguin cut off. There is a variant that not all of the artist's ear was cut off, but only the lobe.
There is another version according to which Van Gogh suffered from otitis media. Severe pain, joint drinking of alcohol with Gauguin and their quarrels inspired Vincent to this way of getting rid of suffering.
The legend of a prostitute, over which two comrades argued, ended in an unpleasant ear incident. This version of the development of events appealed to creative people. It was this version of the conflict that formed the basis of the book and film about Van Gogh.
The most banal version of what happened: after a stormy feast the next morning, Vincent accidentally cut off his ear. While shaving, a strong tremor of the hands led to an absurd incident that became the hallmark of the artist.
Is there a connection between this event and the image of the painting "The Scream"? The protagonist of the picture, clutching his ears with his hands, desperately screams in pain. Such a characterization of Van Gogh's painting "The Scream" is impossible for the simple reason that he is not its author.
mysterious picture
The painting "The Scream" was painted between 1893 and 1910. The blazing glow of the sky, the terrible despair in the eyes of the protagonist, the unreality of everything that was happening - the author was in a state of complete spiritual confusion. Is it possible to assume that the painting "The Scream" is Van Gogh?
Some features of this mysterious canvas are noticed. When a person "interacts" with a picture, he suddenly starts having problems. Some people's relatives died, someone went crazy or fell into a long-term depression.
Most often, museum workers became victims of the painting. They most of all had to contact with the canvas. There is a tragic story about an employee who accidentally dropped a painting. The onset of severe pain in the head drove the unfortunate man to suicide. Another museum worker touched the painting for the purity of the experiment. In the evening, he was burned alive in his own house. How true are these stories? It is not known for certain. But the negative energy of the picture is felt even in reproductions.
Given alcoholism and mental illness, it can be assumed that the painting "The Scream" is Van Gogh. The photo of the canvas conveys a wave of hopelessness to the viewer. But the true author is another artist.
Description of the artwork «Scream»
The canvas depicts a real area. It is located in the city of Oslo, next to the clinic for the mentally ill. In it, the sister of the author of the picture was treated for an illness.
The screaming figure on the canvas evokes different associations. She is compared to a skeleton, a mummy or an embryo. The protagonist of the picture screams from the despair that seized him. Pain and fear emanates from the undulating lines of the landscape. They, as if in a haze, rattle on a high note, giving rise to dissonance with the cry of the hero. The painting "The Scream" is permeated with a polytonal chord. Van Gogh (description, emotions, general style of the masterpiece) is not without reason considered the author of the canvas. Apparently, his state of mind was similar to that in which Edvard Munch painted his picture.
Who wrote "The Scream"?
Edvard Munch - Norwegian painter, theater artist, graphic artist, art theorist is the author of "The Scream". It is possible that the general style of the canvas was inspired by the work of the Dutch artist. Cosmic vibrations in the background seem to be drawn by Van Gogh. The painting "The Scream" is in the National Gallery and the Munch Museum (Oslo, Norway).
Edvard Munch created several versions of the masterpiece in a desire to get rid of his painful sensation. The bridge on the canvas, two figures in the background - the only reality of the chaos into which the main character plunges. The indifference of these figures emphasizes the complete loneliness of a person before fear and longing.
Painting is a child Edvard Munch, which is one of the most famous works of art in history, attracting a wide audience today. There are actually four different original versions of The Scream. The canvas was created using various artistic media, including oil paints, tempera and pastel. The Scream is part of a larger art collection, a series that the artist himself calls "The Frieze of Life".
Out of time, the creature depicted in The Scream is a genderless human with a pale face, standing next to a fence, looking expansively in a chaotic environment. What captures him so much that he sees in front of him on the other side of the picture? The man is screaming, his mouth is wide open, with his hands pressed at his sides to his face. You can see that the scream is reflected in the intense bloody, red, orange, blue and black color scheme of the background. Two people are standing, their backs turned, not far from the screaming figure, with black silhouettes at the very edge of our visual scene. In the distance there is the shadow of a small town, almost completely lost in the swirling sky.
The National Gallery in Oslo, Norway owns one of the "Scream" series of paintings.
It is estimated that just one pastel version of The Scream will sell for around $80 million, making it one of the most valuable works of art ever auctioned in history.
Inspiration for writing "The Scream"
A man of Norwegian origin, Edvard Munch, studied at the Academy in Oslo with the famous Norwegian artist Christian Krogh. He created the first version of The Scream in 1893 when he was about 30 years old, and made the fourth and final version of The Scream in 1910. He described himself in a book written in 1900 as almost going insane, like his sister Laura, who was admitted to a psychiatric hospital during this period of time.
Personally, he discussed pushing emotions to extreme actions. Munch is going through a very dark moment in his life during that period.
The Scream painting was based on a real, actual location, located on Ekeberg Hill in Norway, on the way to the safety fences. Faint cityscape convey the view of Oslo and the Oslo Fjord.
At the bottom of the Ekeberg hill there was a lunatic asylum where Edvard Munch's sister was placed for treatment, and there was also a slaughterhouse nearby. Some people describe that in those days, you could actually hear the screams of animals being killed, as well as the screams of those suffering from mental disorders with a psycho. hospitals. Under these conditions, Edvard Munch was most likely inspired by the screams, which, combined with his personal inner tragedy and confusion, gave rise to the idea for creating The Scream. Edvard Munch wrote in his diary that his inspiration for the painting came while he was walking at sunset with two friends, when he began to feel very deeply tired both physically and mentally. He stopped to rest, leaning against the railing. He felt anxiety and experienced a cry that seemed to go through all of nature. The rest is left to an endless spectrum of interpretations.
“Only a madman could write such a thing”- one of the amazed viewers left this inscription right on the picture itself Edvard Munch"Scream".
It is difficult to argue with this statement, especially considering the fact that the painter actually spent about a year in a mental hospital. But I would like to add a little to the words of the expressive critic: indeed, only a madman could draw such a thing, only this psycho was clearly a genius.
No one has ever been able to express so many emotions in a simple way, to put so much meaning into it. Before us is a real icon, only she speaks not of paradise, not of salvation, but of despair, boundless loneliness and complete hopelessness. But in order to understand how Edvard Munch came to his painting, we need to delve a little into the history of his life.
Perhaps it is very symbolic that the artist, who had a huge impact on the painting of the twentieth century, was born in a country that was so far from art, has always been considered a province of Europe, where the very word "painting" raised more questions than associations.
Edward's childhood clearly cannot be called happy. His father, Christian Munch, was a military doctor who always earned a little. The family lived in poverty and moved regularly, changing one house in the slums of Christiania (then a provincial town in Norway, and now the capital of the state of Oslo) to another. Being poor is always bad, but being poor in the 19th century was much worse than it is now. After the novels of F. M. Dostoevsky (by the way, his favorite writer Edvard Munch), there is no doubt about this.
Illness and death are the first things a young talent will see in his life. When Edward was five years old, his mother died, and his father fell into despair and fell into a painful religiosity. After the loss of his wife, it seemed to Christian Munch that death settled in their house forever. Trying to save the souls of his children, he described the torments of hell to them in the most vivid colors, talking about how important it is to be virtuous in order to earn a place in paradise. But the stories of his father made a completely different impression on the future artist. He was tormented by nightmares, he could not sleep at night, because in a dream all the words of a religious parent came to life, acquiring a visual form. The child, who was not distinguished by good health, grew up withdrawn, timid.
"Illness, madness and death - three angels that have haunted me since childhood", - the painter wrote later in his personal diary.
Agree that it was a kind of vision of the divine trinity.
The only person who tried to calm the unfortunate bullied boy and gave him much-needed motherly care was his sister Sophie. But it seems that Munch was destined to lose everything that is precious. When the artist was fifteen, exactly ten years after the death of his mother, his sister died. Then, probably, his struggle began, which he waged with death with the help of art. The loss of his beloved sister was the basis of his first masterpiece, the painting "Sick Girl".
Needless to say, the provincial "art connoisseurs" from Norway criticized this canvas to the nines. It was called an unfinished sketch, the author was reproached for negligence ... Behind all these words, the critics missed the main thing: they had one of the most sensual paintings of their time in front of them.
Subsequently, Munch always said that he never strove for a detailed image, but transferred to his paintings only what his eye highlighted, which was really important. That is what we see on this canvas.
Only the girl's face stands out, or rather, her eyes. This is the moment of death, when there is practically nothing left of reality. It seems that the picture of life was doused with a solvent and all objects begin to lose shape before turning into nothing. The figure of a woman in black, which is often found in the works of the artist and personifies death, bowed her head to the dying woman and is already holding her hand. But the girl is not looking at her, her gaze is fixed on. Yes, who, if not Munch, understood: real art is always a look behind the back of death.
And although the Norwegian artist strove to look beyond death, she stubbornly stood before his eyes, sought to draw attention to herself. The death of his older sister was the impetus for the birth of his talent, but it blossomed against the backdrop of yet another family tragedy. It was then that Munch, who until that moment had been fond of impressionism, came to a completely new style and began to create paintings that brought him immortal fame.
Another sister of the artist, Laura, was placed in a mental hospital, and in 1889 his father died of a stroke. Munch fell into a deep depression, no one was left of his family. From that moment on, he was absolutely alone, became a voluntary hermit, retired from the world and people. He treated depression alone with a bottle of aquavit. Needless to say, the medicine is very doubtful. And although most creators found salvation from their inner demons in love, Edvard Munch was clearly not one of them. For him, love and death were about the same.
Already recognized in France and outwardly handsome painter enjoyed great success with women. But he himself avoided any long romances, thinking that such relationships only bring death closer. It got to the point that during a date, without explaining the reasons, he could get up and leave, and then never again meet with the woman he left.
Suffice it to recall the painting "Maturation", also known as "Transitional Age".
In Munch's perception, sexuality is a powerful, but dark and dangerous force for a person. It is no coincidence that the shadow that the girl's figure casts on the wall looks so unnatural. She rather resembles a ghost, an evil spirit. Love is a possession by demons, and most of all, demons dream of harming their body shell. So no one has ever spoken of love! The cycle of paintings “Frieze of Life” is dedicated to this feeling. By the way, it was in it that "Scream" was presented. This picture is the final stage of love.
“I was walking along the path with two friends - the sun was setting - suddenly the sky turned blood red, I paused, feeling exhausted, and leaned against the fence - I looked at the blood and flames over the bluish-black fjord and the city - my friends went on, and I stood trembling with excitement, feeling the endless cry piercing nature., - this is how Munch described in his diary the feeling that inspired him to create the picture.
But this work was not created in a single burst of inspiration, as many people think. The artist worked on it for a very long time, constantly changing the idea, adding certain details. And he worked for the rest of his life: there are about a hundred versions of "Scream".
That famous figure of a screaming creature arose from Munch under the impression of an exhibition in an ethnographic museum, where he was most struck by a Peruvian mummy in a fetal position. Her image appears on one of the versions of the painting "Madonna".
The entire exhibition "Frieze of Life" consisted of four parts: "The Birth of Love" (it ends with "Madonna"); "The rise and fall of love"; "Fear of life" (this series of paintings is completed by "Scream"); "Death".
The place that Munch describes in his "Scream" is quite real. This is a famous lookout outside the city overlooking the fjord. But few people know about what is left outside the picture. Below, under the observation deck, on the right was a lunatic asylum, where the artist's sister Laura was placed, and on the left, a slaughterhouse. The death cries of animals and the cries of the mentally ill were often accompanied by a magnificent, but frightening view of northern nature.
In this picture, all the suffering of Munch, all his fears receive the maximum embodiment. Before us is not the figure of a man or a woman, before us is the consequence of love - the soul thrown into the world. And, once in it, faced with its strength and cruelty, the soul can only scream, not even scream, but scream in horror. After all, there are few exits in life, only three: burning skies or a cliff, and at the bottom of the cliff there is a slaughterhouse and a psychiatric hospital.
It seemed that with such a vision of the world, the life of Edvard Munch simply could not be long. But everything happened differently - he lived to be 80 years old. After treatment in a psychiatric clinic, he “tied up” with alcohol and did much less art, living in absolute seclusion in his own house in the suburbs of Oslo.
But "Scream" was waiting for a very sad fate. Indeed, now it is one of the most expensive and famous paintings in the world. But mass culture always rapes true masterpieces, washing out of them the meaning and the power that the masters put into them. A prime example is the Mona Lisa.
The same thing happened with Scream. He became the subject of jokes and parodies, and this is understandable: a person always tries to laugh at what he is most afraid of. Only now the fear will not go anywhere - it will simply hide and will surely overtake the joker at the moment when his entire supply of witticisms runs out.
One of the most significant, talented and enigmatic artists of the 19th century is Vincent van Gogh. The painting "The Scream" also belongs to this period. Until now, it remains, perhaps, the most recognizable work of art of the century before last. What do a great artist and a great work of art have in common? Let's try to figure it out.
Biography of Van Gogh
Vincent van Gogh was born in 1853. The painting "The Scream" was painted in 1893, when the artist had already died. But in style and mood it resembles many of his works. Why are they so similar and who actually painted the famous painting? About everything in order.
Van Gogh was born in the small village of Grot-Zundert in the Netherlands. The border with Belgium was right next to it. His father was a Protestant pastor and his mother was the daughter of a successful bookseller from The Hague.
The future artist was the second child in the family, he was named after his paternal grandfather. When the boy was 7 years old, he went to a village school, but studied there for only a year. He continued to receive education at home with his sister. At the age of 11 he went to a boarding school in Zevenbergen. And although the institution was located not far from his home, separation from loved ones caused Van Gogh serious suffering.
In the boarding school, he showed a craving for languages and drawing, which is not surprising. At the age of 15, the boy left the boarding school in the middle of the school year and returned home. This was the end of his formal education.
First steps in adulthood
Van Gogh worked from the age of 16. He started in his uncle's art and trading company, where he mastered the profession of a dealer. At first, everything went well in the service, Vincent worked so hard that he was soon transferred to a more prestigious London office. Every day, Van Gogh came across the best works of art of his time, thanks to which he soon began to be well versed in painting.
He led a busy life at work, regularly visiting exhibitions and museums. But unhappy love played a cruel joke with him. Rejected (it is still not known exactly who he was in love with), Van Gogh gradually lost interest in the service, read the Bible a lot.
By 1875 he was transferred to the Paris office. In parallel, he began to try to draw himself. Soon after that, he finally cooled off to work and decided that the art dealers, to which he, in fact, belonged, were the worst enemies of art. As a result, he was fired.
Becoming an artist
In the fight against the depression that gripped him, Van Gogh plunged into artistic creativity. He attended classes at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels, with the help of his brother Theo. However, he did not study there for long, leaving everything and leaving for his parents. At that time, he believed that it was not necessary for a master to have an education, it was enough just to have talent and diligence.
And again the artist experienced a love shock and was rejected. After that, he was forever disappointed in trying to arrange his personal life.
While working on his paintings, he studied the life of the poorest city blocks, achieved amazing colors and shades, mixing various colors on the canvas and combining painting techniques.
The heyday of Van Gogh
The heyday of Van Gogh's creativity came in the 80s of the XIX century. In his works, he showed an artistic temperament, as well as an animal fear of forces hostile to man. All this is reflected in his canvases "The Yellow House", "Red Vineyards in Arles", "Van Gogh's Bedroom in Arles".
At that time, he was in close contact with another famous artist of that time - Paul Gauguin. In 1888, Gauguin made a special trip to Arles, where Van Gogh then lived, to discuss with him the idea of creating a southern painting workshop. However, it all ended in scandal and conflict. Gauguin was annoyed by the carelessness of Van Gogh, while the hero of our article remained at a loss due to the fact that Gauguin could not accept the idea of a collective direction of painting in the name of the future.
Conflict with Gauguin
The conflict with Gauguin came to a head a week before the New Year 1889. Van Gogh attacked a colleague with a razor, and only by a miracle did Gauguin manage to escape.
The causes and circumstances of that conflict are still not known for certain. There is a version that Van Gogh attacked Gauguin when he was sleeping, the latter was saved only by the fact that he woke up on time.
It is only known for certain that after an unsuccessful assassination attempt, Van Gogh cut off his earlobe. But even here there is no consensus as to why he did it. Some believe that this happened in a fit of remorse, others believe that it was a manifestation of insanity, the attacks of which increasingly visited the artist due to the regular use of absinthe.
The next morning, Van Gogh was taken to a psychiatric clinic.
Last works
During periods of enlightenment, Van Gogh asked to be released from the clinic in order to continue working on the paintings, but the inhabitants of the town of Arles asked not to do this, fearing his outbursts of insanity.
As a result, the artist settled in a clinic for the mentally ill in Saint-Remy-de-Provence. There he worked diligently on new canvases for a whole year. The work of Van Gogh of this period is best characterized by the painting "Starry Night", in which the enormous nervous tension and dynamism are most clearly manifested. In total, during this period, the post-impressionist painted about 150 canvases.
In 1890 he settled near Paris, where he continued to work. Here he wrote his famous "Wheat Field with Crows". Shortly thereafter, his life was tragically cut short.
Going for a walk with paints and canvas, he shot himself in the chest with a revolver that he had bought shortly before to scare away birds. The bullet passed under the heart, he managed to get to the hotel on his own, but they could not save him. Vincent van Gogh died on July 29, 1890. He never saw the picture "The Scream", he did not meet its author, although they lived at the same time, in the same part of the planet.
The history of the painting "Scream"
The painting "The Scream" was created between 1893 and 1910. In fact, it was not one, but a whole series of works. The author of the painting "The Scream" is the Norwegian expressionist Edvard Munch. With just one look at the canvas, art connoisseurs understand that the Dutch painter had a noticeable influence on the artist.
"The Scream" has become a kind of emblem of expressionism, a prelude to the new art of the 20th century. Munch in his work foresaw many of the main points of modernism, to which there was very little time left. It is worth noting that Van Gogh also played a certain role in this. The painting "The Scream" reminds many of the works of the Dutch painter. It covers topics that have become mainstream in the 20th century. It is loneliness, despair and alienation.
Edvard Munch
The author of the painting "The Scream" Edvard Munch was born in the Norwegian town of Hedmark in 1863. He was not only a famous artist, but also an art theorist. One of the first representatives of such a direction as expressionism. His work had a great influence on art in the 20th century. The topics close to the author are death and loneliness, which are accompanied by an insatiable thirst for life.
One of his first famous works was "The Sick Girl", written in 1886. He painted a large canvas based on his own memories of the illness and death of his older sister Sophie. He sought to throw out his innermost feelings on the canvas, while critics reacted coldly to the work. To write so frankly, turning the soul inside out, was not yet accepted at that time.
Painting "Scream"
Edvard Munch's The Scream is believed to have been painted in 1893. The figure of a screaming man is depicted on the canvas. Moreover, it is so primitive that it has been brought to the level of a skeleton, a spermatozoon or an embryo.
The description of the painting "The Scream" is impossible without mentioning the undulating landscapes, which, as it were, repeat the rounded contours of the main character's head and his widest mouth. The scream seems to come from everywhere. There is a bright negative emotion, because of which at first many could not understand who wrote this work - Munch or Van Gogh.
The negative emotion that erupts from the only character of this work crushes the whole world around him and takes on a simply universal scope.
But some critics make a different description of the painting "The Scream". They notice a person on it, agonizing because of the "cry of nature", as the author himself called him. This cry for Munch was heard from everywhere.
The picture of Edvard Munch seemed to be able to look into the coming century. Predicting all the wars, epidemics, environmental disasters and revolutions that have befallen humanity in these hundred years. At the same time, according to many critics, the author literally denies any, even the slightest opportunity to resist them and overcome adversity. They are inevitable, and they have to obey. The author sees no way out of this situation.
Versions of "The Scream"
It is known that there are several versions of the painting "The Scream" by the Norwegian Munch. At least four. The famous expressionist wrote them using different techniques and writing methods.
The painting "The Scream", the original of which is in the Munch Museum in the Norwegian capital Oslo, is presented in the gallery in two versions. One is in oil, the other is in pastel.
Another work of the author under the same name is stored in the National Museum of Norway. It is this version that is considered the most famous in the world. According to the account, it was written second. To create it, the artist also used oil.
Another version of "The Scream" is still not in the state gallery, but in private hands. The canvas, written in pastel, belonged to the Norwegian businessman and billionaire Petter Olsen. In 2012, he put it up for public auction. As a result, the painting was sold to American businessman Leon Black. Its cost amounted to almost 120 million US dollars. At that time it was a record for the cost of a work of art.
Such interest in Munch's work made her a target for intruders more than once, who sought to steal or forge the painting. The famous theft of The Scream from the Norwegian National Museum took place in 1994. It was only a few months later that she was able to return to her place.
