Why is 'The Scream' screaming? - Noah Charney

Explore Edvard Munch’s masterpiece “The Scream,” and find out why this artwork became one of the world’s most famous paintings.

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An undulating sky melds into the landscape, two silhouettes move along a balustraded walkway, and a ghostly figure’s features extend in agony. Since Norwegian artist Edvard Munch created "The Scream" in 1893, it’s become one of the world’s most famous artworks. But why has its cry traveled so far and endured so long? Noah Charney shares the inspiration behind the dramatic and haunting masterpiece.

Lesson by Noah Charney, directed by Martina Meštrović.

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Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Rohan Gupta, Begum Tutuncu, Brian Richards, Jørgen Østerpart, Tyron Jung, Carsten Tobehn, Katie Dean, Ezgi Yersu, Gerald Onyango, alessandra tasso, Doreen Reynolds-Consolati, Manognya Chakrapani, Ayala Ron, Eunsun Kim, Phyllis Dubrow, Ophelia Gibson Best, Paul Schneider, Joichiro Yamada, Henrique Cassús, Karthik Cherala, Clarence E. Harper Jr., Vignan Velivela, Ana Maria, Exal Enrique Cisneros Tuch, Tejas Dc, Khalifa Alhulail, Martin Stephen, Jose Henrique Leopoldo e Silva, Mandeep Singh, Abhijit Kiran Valluri, Morgan Williams, Devin Harris, Pavel Zalevskiy, Karen Goepen-Wee, Filip Dabrowski, Barbara Smalley, Megan Douglas, Tim Leistikow, Ka-Hei Law, Hiroshi Uchiyama, Mark Morris, Misaki Sato, EdoKun, SookKwan Loong, Bev Millar, Lex Azevedo, Michael Aquilina, Jason A Saslow, Yansong Li and Cristóbal Moenne.

[kirisuchan]

We talked about this painting in art class once and our teacher explained that the colors and texture of the sky in the painting is “screaming” not the person, making the person overwhelmed from their environment, its called expressionism :>

[Unstbecsta]

Munch’s personal description of the scream during his walk with friends was so oddly comforting to me when I first heard it….I have General Anxiety Disorder and I have experienced moments like that often. Knowing a widely regarded and famous painter also understood this unexpected inexplicable fear is just……it’s nice to know you’re not

[prekpaoml]

the animation depicting the essence of the painting is awesome

[indigofenrir]

The Scream is the signature facial expression of college students.

[awesomehpt]

Honestly with such a beautiful view of the sea I’d be pretty happy. Especially with that nice sunset.

Always wondered why the guy is screaming.

[bhaskarchatterjee]

I’ve always had a ghastly feeling about this painting but then I figured it’s just me on a Monday morning when my alarm goes off

[ThrillSeeker]

You'd be amazed how much of an influence mental illness has had on arts and media

[syeedahaseeba]

"Could only have been painted by a madman" wise words for sure ✨️❤️‍🩹 3:32

[Sunflowersarepretty]

The scream face 😱😱gives me anxiety. Like I remember as a kid seeing the scream mask (I'm talking about the movies) and even the painting and I was afraid of it.

[mangantasy]

Having sevre mental health issues myself, that painting speaks to the darkest parts of my heart. Way too relatable.

[Alish-bang]

Dude, I love Edvard Munch! He's my favorite painter!

[chrisvazquez]

Tuberculosis. Such a ravaging force human history!

[icemagiciangh]

Hearing his voice, one that moments prior spoke of psychiatric wards and TB, say “emoji” is the most surreal thing I’ve heard all week.

[ronaldosapam]

Taking a moment to appreciate the efforts and work the illustrators and animated have put together for this amazing project

[nekkoPi]

Long ago I heard that this person in the middle of the painting isn't screaming; they are putting their hands against their ears, shutting them, because of someone/something else's scream. I was still a teen but it made total sense to me.

[theWZZA]

The animation here complements the painting so well ♥

[Simonchrismasdoherty]

This is human suffering and pain expressed in art

[ahmedsaoudi]

This video is, in and of itself, a piece of art!

[dimamatat]

I always thought the figure wasn't screaming, just silently shocked by something to the point of staring with its mouth open.

[nat_htrk]

This painting successfully scared me as a child 😱