Edvard Munch’s “The Scream” to be auctioned, expected to fetch $80m
Oooooh….an article (click through) about Munch’s “The Scream” being auctioned mentions the Silence….or does it?
From the article:
While The Scream’s fame is undeniable, its ubiquity and widespread popularity are, at least on the surface, more difficult to explain.
An icon of misery and desperation makes for an unlikely decorative addition to the typical living room wall, after all.
“I think this compulsion to look at things that trouble us is a fundamental part of the human condition. If you go to WH Smiths or Waterstones you find all these books on sale about abused children. The whole myth and industry around Vincent van Gogh is based on the same thing.”
Perhaps for this reason, The Scream’s influence on modern art has been considerable, as seen in Francis Bacon’s Screaming Popes series, Picasso’s Guernica and, of course, Andy Warhol’s silk prints of Munch’s work.
Popular culture has embraced the iconography, from the mask in Wes Craven’s Scream films to the Munch-inspired alien villains The Silence in Doctor Who. Munch himself was the first to produce this image in bulk, creating four versions - two paintings and two pastels - between 1893 and 1910, as well as a lithograph.
Reblogging not for the Doctor Who reference, but because The Scream is relevant to my interests.
I wonder WHICH copy is going for $80 mil, they point out that there are 5 copies of it by Munch himself…
