Expressionism · 1893
The Scream
A figure stops on a bridge while the landscape seems to cry with it. Munch painted an inner shock as if it had spread through the air.
- Made
- 1893
- Style
- Expressionism
- Collection
- National Museum, Oslo
From museum to game table
The in-game crop
The card adds paint spaces, rewards and a frame. This crop shows the artwork area used during play, without the card rails.
The short history
What happened here?
Munch traced the image to a walk near Kristiania, now Oslo. He wrote of a blood-red sky and a great scream passing through nature. The scene became part of his wider Frieze of Life project.
Several versions survive in paint, pastel and print. The National Museum's 1893 painting is the earliest painted version. Its cardboard support and mixed materials add to the raw, exposed effect.
The bridge locks the composition into sharp perspective. Everything beyond it bends and ripples. The central figure is not clearly male or female, which helped it become a broad image of fear rather than one person's story.
Look closer
Three details worth finding
- 1The straight bridge against the fluid landscape
- 2Two calm walkers in the distance
- 3Bands of color that echo sound waves
Sources
Read further
Museum records come first. Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons provide useful public background and image records.