Imbalance Of Colors And Lines In Scream example essay topic

345 words
I chose to write about Edvard Munch's The Scream. In 1893, Munch used oil, pastel, and caes in on cardboard as his medium. The result is a timeless 35 and 3/4 inch by 29 inch painting that is currently housed in Oslo's National Gallery. The representational piece depicts the feelings of nature screaming and symbolizes great emotional anguish.

The lines in The Scream are flowing, yet have such abrupt and choppy contrasting lines within the main motion of the work to give a sense of chaos and disarray within the whole. The vibrant reds and yellows in The Scream give the sense of "too much". It is as though everything in nature is too much and it is too much for the person. The people shown in The Scream are not vibrantly colored. This choice gives the sense of a certain unimportance of self. The imbalance of colors and lines in Scream makes it a bold work.

Much is said by the focus on the sky and the demure colors of the bridge and people. Everything about the space of the work seems to point toward a dark horizon that the protagonist is not looking forward to. In the foreground is the screaming man because of his size and central placement and the fact that he is the only thing allowed facial expression in the work makes him the protagonist in the work. In the middle ground the passers-by, the bridge, and the water are darkly present and both merely go by without stopping. The background is the vibrant sunset. The sunset is what seems to overwhelm the protagonist.

Sunsets often symbolize and end. In this case, the sunset dominates the scene. Perhaps it is the inevitable end of things that dominates all and the inability for the individual to have control that is conveyed in this piece. The inevitabilities of life are the unifying factor that makes this piece so universal and a timeless classic.