http://www.art.com/asp/sp-asp/_/PD--13108497/SP--A/IGID--2307079/The_Scream_c1893.htm

Research has found that the sky really DID look like this when he painted this painting, because of a volcanic eruption. So he wasn't far off. Of course, the unhappy person is another story, but you never know

Would you hang this in your home?

I think you could hang this in a bathroom to give you incentive to eat healthily

The painting doesn't really bother me, it's like a lava lamp image. It's interesting that the railing is straight while the rest of the world wriggles. The guy looks like a space alien ... maybe someone just stepped on his friend, the ant ...

For me, it's definitely intriguing enough to hang somewhere in my home.

I think he looks a little too "upset" for my tastes, I'd always wonder just what got stepped on - a baby bird? His lunch?

But I'm quirky - like I said, I think this would be "fun" in a place where his shocked expression was seemingly aimed at something - maybe the shower

Not one of my favorites. I don't think I would have it in my home. A bit too eerie.

I always had the impression that the figure was a woman and her scream was due to the horror of the volcanic eruptions. The fugure in the background seems to be watching the volcanoe explode. I actually had a coffe mug once with this image on it and it started up a lot of conversations. I think I would like the painting in my home as a conversation piece and to hear different people's impression or interpretation of it. Fascinating!

Well the colors are from a volcanic eruption - albeit far, far away - so your imagination makes sense! I thought of him as a bald, middle aged man, looking forward at something shocking. Forward and down. Not something serious like mass destruction, but something small and personal, like a person stepping on a baby bird by accident.

Yes definitely this would be a good conversation starter - people would talk about this much more than say a portrait of a woman!

The reason of this piece is not about a volcanic eruption. No one knows about that, and the specifics don't matter in archetypal art. It speaks to a certain POV. We all feel this pain at times. That is why it's so amazing. It's about a fundamental point in most people's lives, an internal scream, a sense of despair and the internal scream that comes out at crux moments. I have been there. The picture is about that point that most people relate to.

I understand what you're saying about the fundamental scream emotion. I agree! There are powerful emotions in here

Regarding the "background" - I do want to say that yes, we do know that the background colors were due to a volcanic explosion at the time. So he wasn't "inventing" that color landscape. That is what he actually saw, from that spot. They know the exact spot he did the painting in. So he went to that spot and saw that exact landscape. That then inspired him to put a person into that scene with that emotion.

So one question would be - if he hadn't seen those fantastic colors, would he have done that painting? Would he have done a painting with what he saw (i.e. the plain regular background) and would it have had the same impact? Would we have lost this painting forever? It doesn't look like he "invented" colors in other works, so it's unlikely that he would have spontaneously painted a bright red sky if he didn't actually see a bright red sky - and maybe it was that bright red sky that made him think about pain and heartache ...

That's really funny Lisa. I agree that would be cool in a bathroom. Maybe lifesize by the full-length mirror...