Edvard Munch's "The Scream"� was painted around the end of the 19th century, and is possibly the first Expressionist painting. The Scream was very different from the art of its time. During this time artists tried to paint realistic paintings. Munch was a tortured soul, and it certainly showed in this painting. Most of his family had died, and he was often plagued by sickness. The Scream was a reflection of what was going on at the time, and what was going on in Munch's own mind

It seemed to me that I could hear the scream. I painted this picture; painted the clouds as real blood. The colors screamed"� (Preble 52). Some people, when they look at this painting, only see a person screaming. They see the pretty blend of colors, but don't actually realize what they are looking at. A lone emaciated figure halts on a bridge clutching his ears, his eyes and mouth open wide in a scream of anguish. Behind him a couple (his two "friends") are walking together in the opposite direction. Barely discernible in the swirling motion of a red-blood sunset and deep blue-black fjord, are tiny boats at sea, and the suggestion of town buildings (Preble 53). This painting was definitely the first of its kind, the first Expressionist painting. People say that a picture is worth a thousand words. If that's the case, then "The Scream"� is worth a million. It has a message that no other painting of its time had. Edvard Munch was pouring out his soul onto the canvas. What we see here, is a glimpse of what Munch was really like inside. When we really look at the painting, we understand what the artist was feeling at the time, because it captures nothing but human emotion. It creates a similar mood in us for a brief moment. The man screaming in the picture seems to feel like he's going insane, and that the world is getting to be too much for him. The two people walking away from him possibly mean that the man feels left out of everything, or that he doesn't fit in with the rest of the world. Maybe he needs help, and his friends weren't there for him. The piece of artwork speaks better than actual words to describe it, which makes it something spectacular. Long after Munch died, the painting remains, and people are still amazed with it. Why? Because art is all about expressing raw human emotion, and this painting captures it perfectly. People are scared of things they don't understand or cannot relate to. Everyone can relate to what this piece expresses, and that is why it's so popular.

This picture to me drips pure emotion. Munch's own personal despair went into this painting. The loneliness of the figure and the violent swirling colors seem to jump off the painting in a dramatic, aggressive attack.

Nina Harp wrote on Jan 6, 2001:

The Scream

When he painted this I remember him describing the scene: he was walking with two other friends (the 2 regular humans in this painting) and this was when he was going through paranoia. Suddenly he heard this scream from nature and he had to stop and almost collapsed of the fright it instilled in him. Some think since this was painted in France that he might have gone to their art museum and saw the remains of a mummy that looked like this figure.

Alessia wrote on Jan 12, 2001:

This is my favorite painting cause Munch was able to express the despair and the pain of man's life. I think that everybody can identify himself or herself with this man who screams in almost one of the moments of life. Sorry for my bad English: I'm Italian!!

Jill wrote on Jan 19, 2001:

This is my favorite painting in the whole wide world, when I look at it I can see pain and terror in his face, like the world is about to explode. I can see true emotion used here, every possible feeling that one may have is screaming out of this painting.

Its like a magnificent ray of fireworks, the most powerful colors are used to portray rays of emotion that actually reach out and call to you. I could stare at this painting for hours and never truly understand it, its strength is moving.