Genesis of the Iconic *The Scream* by Edvard Munch

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"A passage in Munch’s diary dated January 22, 1892, and written in Nice, contains the probable inspiration for this scene as the artist remembered it: 'I was walking along the road with two friends—the sun went down—I felt a gust of melancholy—suddenly the sky turned a bloody red. I stopped, leaned against the railing, tired to death—as the flaming skies hung like blood and sword over the blue-black fjord and the city—My friends went on—I stood there trembling with anxiety—and I felt a vast infinite scream [tear] through nature.'"  **

** Dr. Noelle Paulson.  Edvard Munch, The Scream – Smarthistory  

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 * An English translation of the Norwegian text to the right from The Munch Museaum website:  

"Before The Scream became a picture, Munch tried to reproduce the subject as a text. In Nice on the French Riviera in the winter of 1892, he wrote a long poem in his diary describing his walk with his friends. The text tells how Munch is saved by the flaming clouds and the blue-black city and fjord. He had to stop, trembling with anxiety, and felt 'a great infinite scream through nature.'"

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 Joyful screams perceived more strongly than screams of fear or anger [April 13, 2021.  Source: University of Zurich]  sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/04/210413144922.htm

• Summary - The human scream signals more than fear of imminent danger or entanglement in social conflicts. Screaming can also express joy or excitement. For the first time, researchers have demonstrated that non-alarming screams are even perceived and processed by the brain more efficiently than their alarming counterparts.