Perhaps one of the artists that has intrigued the most is Edvard Munch, a Norweigan Symbolist painter known for his expressionist painting called The Scream. There are at least five versions of this artwork, three of which--two paintings and one in pastel--are currently in the possession of The Munch Museum. The other two are in the possession of The National Gallery of Norway and Norweigan billionaire Peter Olsen.
The paintings are part of a series called The Frieze of Life, in which extreme emotions of love, death, and melancholy were explored by the abovementioned artist.
Munch was born in December 12, 1983, inside a rustic farmhouse in Adalsbruk, Løten municipality in Norway to a doctor and a health officer. Living in poverty during his childhood, he was constrained to study in a technical school as an engineering student, where he excelled in physics and math. His father was then disappointed when he dropped out of school and determined to become a painter.
From Oslo to Paris and to Berlin, Munch's art exhbitions may be considered to be one that is mired in problems and controversies, most likely due to the emotions evoked by his artworks. He died in his country home in January 1944 at age 80.
Today, Munch is considered to be one of the most revered artists in Norway, to which he bequeathed most of his artworks, which have also been subject to numerous high-profile cases of art theft. Just last 2004, his The Scream and Madonna were stolen from The Munch Museum, only to be recovered in 2006. After undergoing restoration, the works were finally displayed once again in 2008.
There is this certain sense of mystery that I feel everytime that I encounter a work by Munch. Though this article is in no way good enough to honor an artist as great and as well-known as him, I do take this opportunity to applaud and admire that expressionist style that leaves me in a state of awe every single time.
