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The Scream

Edvard Munch Norwegian
1895
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 099
The extreme familiarity of this image today makes it hard to realize how shocking it and other works by Munch were when they were created slightly over a hundred years ago. Munch's art represented his own emotions, mostly the darker ones of fear, dread, loneliness, and sexual longing, with extraordinary expressiveness. The screaming figure personifies existential horror. A precursor of this image is a drawing of a man (Munch himself) on a similar bridge, with a blood-red sky above. A text accompanying this drawing states: "I walked with two friends. Then the sun sank. Suddenly the sky turned as red as blood ... My friends walked on, and I was left alone, trembling with fear. I felt as if all nature were filled with one mighty unending shriek."

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Scream
  • Artist: Edvard Munch (Norwegian, Løten 1863–1944 Ekely)
  • Date: 1895
  • Medium: Lithograph
  • Dimensions: Image: 14 1/16 x 9 5/16 in. (35.7 x 23.6 cm)
    Sheet: 20 1/4 x 15 5/8 in. (51.4 x 39.7 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Bequest of Scofield Thayer, 1982
  • Object Number: 1984.1203.1
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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Bow, Wood, hair, Norwegian
Bow
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The Connoisseur, Honoré Daumier French, Pen and ink, wash, watercolor, lithographic crayon, and gouache over black chalk on wove paper
The Connoisseur
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ca. 1860–65
Court presentation ensemble, Boué Soeurs French, (a, c, d) silk, metallic threads; (b) silk; (e) feathers, plastic (cellulose nitrate), French
Court presentation ensemble
Design House Boué Soeurs
Designer Sylvie Boué de Montegut
Designer Jeanne d'Etreillis
1928
Tête-à-tête, Edvard Munch Norwegian, Etching with drypoint and burnishing; third state of three (Woll)
Tête-à-tête
Edvard Munch
1894

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