5. Edvard Munch explored his mental illness through his art
Edvard Munch (1863-1944) was a Norwegian painter, most famous for his four versions of The Scream (above). Despite receiving little formal instruction, Munch turned his natural flair for drawing into a pioneering style which went against the common, naturalistic style of nineteenth-century art. Munch’s preoccupation was emotion, which he depicted against any concern for accuracy. In part, he was inspired in this by a tragic childhood during which both of his parents, brother and sister all died. ‘Illness, insanity, and death were the black angels that kept watch over my cradle and accompanied me all my life’, Munch reflected.
Munch suffered from anxiety and depression, which he expressed through his paintings and prints. Like Beethoven and Caravaggio, his mental health was fundamental to his unique style. The Scream, for example, was inspired by a very specific moment in Munch’s life. ‘One evening I was walking along a path… I felt tired and ill. I stopped and looked out over the fjord—the sun was setting, and the clouds turning blood red. I sensed a scream passing through nature’. The titular scream is that of nature, not of the open-mouthed figure. Munch’s heightened sensitivity meant that only he heard it.
