The art is intended in some way to express the feelings of an author. In this respect, the functional fulfillment of art is imposed in its desire to teach and develop in people the right attitudes toward works of art. Moreover, this approach lead to the conceptual entity of what an author described and how this work was then reflected in the mind or soul of a connoisseur. The attitudinal backgrounds of people toward painting are outlined with easiness of sharing ideas about this kind of art. Viewing the ideas on canvas an individual is allowed to look into the soul of its creator. A divine design can be prescribed toward every grave work of painting art. This idea leads to the point that without talent and a forcing urge of an artist to make something extra-ordinary goes through the sphere of feelings, reflections, and comprehension of the world realities or some of its parts. In other words, it is easier to make out the world of nature, people, or the universe, on the whole, by means of artistic thought. It is emphasized with a statement that everything is in modern times was already in the past.
Edvard Munch and his picture “The Scream” impress with its symbolic coloring and the featuring of forms. It is fabulous in the enigmatic character of its plot and ideas which the artist implied in it. The many-faceted field of interpretation of this picture presupposes a great interest of publicity to Edvard Munch and his painting style. In the ordinary, from first sight, the theme of a man screaming a viewer can see some episodes from his/her own life or personal approach toward the cruelty of the social life. The impressionist writing of Munch projects a play of symbols accompanied with a distinct destination of colors, so that not to lose the primary idea of the work.
The picture describes a man with huge anxiety caused by the fear of being lonely in the world. The artist projects how it is possible for an individual to confront the precipitate cruelty and horribleness of living within society. Diffused description of the main details on the picture emphasizes the strong motives of Munch to develop a realistic picture of how one can imagine the horror and in which perspective can one look at it. The Norway origin of the author prescribes his own look at nature and how it contradicts a man (Alexis 520). The prevailing colors are brown, red, and blue. Here is a motive to depict the major and vital significance of these colors for a man’s life. Red is a demonstration of blood drools in peoples’ veins; blue is a symbol of water and air so necessary for living on earth; brown is a color to depict the soil which gives people food.
In this respect, the wholeness of the picture cannot be understood with positive tints. Here is a description of loneliness and fear which are predominant in the life of described man. This is a sort of dichotomy of constant fears emerging in a man’s mind about every single step ahead. The described man seems to go through many difficulties of life, as blood circles behind him. Moreover, the stature of another man behind the main character promotes a challenging notion of someone’s intrusion in his life. Blue color concerned with water and air is pointed out to be also behind. The torrents of it are directed backward from the main character. It sails away spontaneously, as it can be seen. In such a perspective, the situation shows that the existence of the man depicted is nearly to be over because even his own silhouette is askew. The hands are near the temples or even ears so that to show the inability to stand against the horror of realities. Even nature is outlined on the picture to be somewhere back of the man. It is the most horrible thing when there is nothing for a man to live for when nothing holds an individual in the life.
Nevertheless, the person in the picture seems to be placed on the bridge. This symbol outlines the connection between two separate parts of the land. Thereupon the bridge connects the man with life. Such an idea may be more dramatized when conceding the probability of the further intentions of the man to jump down the bridge. The Black or dark clothes of the main character prove an idea that this man is unintentionally ready to meet the horror of further outcomes which is emphasized with a process of screaming. One more touch considers the curve of blood torrents toward the place where the man stands. It seems to appear not in the short run, but the point that blood inside him may appear outside his skin and life, on the whole, terrifies greatly. At this moment a bit of spontaneous shiver goes through the whole body of a viewer. The borderline between a viewer and the man in the picture becomes trite when having more reasoning and ideas about the picture interpretation.
The work by E. Munch impressed not only connoisseurs all over the world but also ordinary viewers attending the exhibitions with works of eminent artists. It is due to the originality of the picture plot and the tradition in which it was written. Impressionism was intended to behave strong emotional feelings in human beings. The ability to feel right and without indifference was at the core of impressionist works of art. In terms of Munch’s attitude toward his work it is significant to admit a process of circulation and its intensified nature projected on the canvas of the picture:
…The Scream, for instance, shows a kind of blood circulating through the background landscape. The internal process of circulation has become externalized in the landscape. Like art, it leaves the artist in order to communicate with the world at large (Cordulack and Munch 48).
Even the author is intended to depict the theme of blood circulation to be prior in the context of the picture. Taking into account that Edvard Munch had personal intentions in writing such a picture because of agoraphobia (Prideaux 23). In this respect, the sincerity of the author was the best helper in making the picture so emotional and impressive. Bloody heaven is another striking element of the picture. It is a detail that consolidates the whole idea of doom. Many experts, in fact, concentrate their attention on the background when the main idea is incorporated with a man. Furthermore, the picture was not so emotional without a human factor. The name of it would not be actual if it were without a man. The sense can be lost without the man screaming because of the horror which surrounds his life. The scene of the most impressive moment is implemented when a viewer sums up the representation of the details along with the author’s ideas as of the picture. However, Munch did not actually explain in detail the real idea of the picture (Bering 83). With regard to the author’s personal attitude toward his artistic activity he once wrote: “Illness, insanity, and death were the black angels that hovered over my cradle” (Bering 83).
Munch’s brilliant mind was accompanied by several mental disorders with which he struggled all his life (Whalen and McKinney 16). Thus, the thought that people being insane for the moment may see pictures unavailable for sound-minded people. In the example of Edvard Munch, such a perspective on anxiety as a disorder is proved when understanding that surroundings are pressing in from all directions trying to squeeze human nature at the very moment of sunset (Whalen and McKinney 16). The picture by Munch is interesting not only for its artistic value and significance in the world of art. It is also a demonstration of the fearful personal life of the artist and in turn a concern of psychologists in the analysis of the picture.
The technical implementation of the picture is executed with blending colors which seem to be applied with one movement being curved and going in a circular way: “Blending colors gives a very painterly feel. They learn quickly that the lines must touch the sides of the fill colors will “leak.” The screaming person and the figures in the background are drawn with the freeform line and shape tools” (Sterling 18). Thus, the picture leaves space for imagination about the universal significance of the phenomenon of anxiety and fear being described. In the same way, experts are inclined to think over the person of a man in the picture. Some are apt to think and assume that the figure which impresses with its skull-like form is the implementation of the author’s destiny and his life. In reality, not only Munch but also many members of his family suffered from mental diseases in various forms (Whalen and McKinney 16). Notwithstanding, the painter was strong and sound enough in order to describe his impressionist feelings and hopes in the form of art embodiment. The thing is that such an undertaking of Munch was more than just successful. The Scream is one of the best-known works relating to Impressionism. The more a viewer looks at it, the more conscientious he/she becomes as for the real values being significant in life, those values which are given by God, nature, or the Highest Power, on the whole.
To sum up, the impressionist work by Edvard Munch amazes a viewer with a wide range of suppositions and ideas being incorporated in a mere extent of details. The work is significant for the world art heritage due to the fairness of colors and technique which the author used. Moreover, it is vital due to the fact that the picture was written when Munch suffered from mental disorders. In this respect, one may presuppose that the figure on the picture is an implementation of the artist’s inner world and the way he felt at the time.
References
Alexis, Karin. “Erik Morstad, Ed.: Edvard Munch An Anthology.” Stockholm: Scandinavian Studies 79.4 (2007): 520-529.
Bering, Henrik. “The Pain Painter.” New York: Policy Review (2006): 83-86.
Cordulack, Shelley Wood and Munch, Edvard. Edvard Munch and the physiology of symbolism, Vol. 7073. Teaneck, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, 2002.
Munch, Edvard. The Scream. 1893. Web.
Prideaux, Sue. Edvard Munch: Behind the Scream. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007.
Sterling, Joan. “The Virtual Scream.” Hartford, Wisconsin: Arts & Activities 2006: 18-25.
Whalen, James L., and Robin E. Mckinney. “Panic Disorder: Characteristics, Etiology, Psychosocial Factors, and Treatment Considerations.” New York: Annals of the American Psychotherapy Association 10.1 (2007): 12-16.