Edvard Munch: The Scream

October 24, 2012–April 29, 2013

Posted on September 18, 2012

Edvard Munch’s iconic The Scream (1895), among the most celebrated and recognized images in art history, will go on view at The Museum of Modern Art for a period of six months beginning October 24. The exhibition Edvard Munch: The Scream will also include a small selection of works of the same period drawn primarily from the Museum’s collection. Of the four versions of The Scream that Munch created between 1893 and 1910, three are in the collections of museums in Norway, and this pastel is the only one remaining in private hands. The Scream is being lent from a private collection, and will be on view at MoMA through April 29, 2013.

A haunting rendition of a hairless figure on a road under a yellow-orange sky, The Scream has captured the popular imagination since the time of its making. The image was originally conceived by Munch as part of the epic Frieze of Life series, which explored modern life by focusing on the themes of love, angst, and death. Especially concerned with the expressive representation of emotions and personal relationships, Munch was associated with the international development of Symbolism during the 1890s and recognized as a precursor of 20th-century Expressionism.