Madonna by Edvard Munch (1984)

Why is 'The Scream' the most famous of them all? 

'The Scream' by Edvard Munch is undoubtedly the artist's most celebrated artwork. In fact, it has become one of the most iconic paintings of all time. It has been in the public eye repeatedly over the past fifty years, winning the accolade for the highest nominal price-tag ever to be paid for in auction ($119,922,600), and stolen in 1994 and again in 2004; it was even featured in an episode of the Simpsons! I suppose it begs the question why? Andy Warhol wanted to desacralise the painting through mass production........perhaps Andy and his series of silk prints were responsible for making 'The Scream' such an iconic image in popular culture. However, you could argue that Munch had already intended on recreating it on mass having made a lithograph of the work for reproduction. In fact, 'The Scream' is a series of four artworks NOT one. Only until recently had I realised that 'The Scream' (the 1910 version on cardboard) had been stolen with the Munch's less well-known artwork 'Madonna'. It made me realise that although I was aware of 'Madonna' by Edvard Munch and recognised it as one of the artist's most notable paintings, it had been a mere auxiliary to the almighty Scream during the theft in 2004.

'Madonna' is a series of artworks too. Munch painted several versions of the composition and also produced a number of prints. My argument that 'The Scream' is only iconic because of mass production is now void. So why is 'The Scream' so iconic? It might be because it has the most impact......I mean a screaming figure is an image hard to forget. Author Martha Tedeschi once stated: "Whistler's Mother, Wood's American Gothic, Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa and Edvard Munch's The Scream have all achieved something that most paintings—regardless of their art historical importance, beauty, or monetary value—have not: they communicate a specific meaning almost immediately to almost every viewer. These few works have successfully made the transition from the elite realm of the museum visitor to the enormous venue of popular culture."

The composition may have become even more symbolic after the Nazi occupation of Norway. Throughout the occupation, Munch apparently lived in constant fear that Nazis would confiscate his whole collection of work. Subsequently, eighty-two of his paintings were taken by the Nazi regime. Seventy-one of the artworks were returned to Norway, which included 'The Scream'. In some ways the piece became a national reminder of Nazi oppression. Norway regards the piece as a national treasure; it is housed in the Munch Museum in Oslo, which is one of the city's most visited landmarks and this year 'The Scream' has been made into a novelty stamp by the Norwegian Postal Service. 

'Madonna' meanwhile sits in its shadows.