The song playing is appropriately entitled, "Poor Edward".

Edvard Munch
(1863-1944)

I feel as though I have failed at originality. I had no intention of choosing an artist that I had had any previous familiarity with. But since I set out for an artist that most closely related to me and my interests, Edvard Munch was my guy. My favorite musical artist is Tom Waits and one my all time favorite poets is Charles Bukowski; a combination of two artists that would, by all logic, lead only to Edvard munch. I can say that I have never seen much of his other work beyond his most well known, "The Scream". Sadness, agony, despair, destitution, torment, melancholy, and emotional and mental anguish are of the most pure and palpable human emotions. These emotions can drive someone to ambush and breach the very purpose of their existence: To stay alive. I have never dabbled with thoughts of suicide other than cute humorous ways into how I might do it if I had to. But like anybody else that has been on this planet for any extended period time, I have confronted and endured these emotions. I have grown from them despite the scarring. It's the colors and the subjects' faces he uses that draw me into that memory of those emotions.
I wonder if "The Scream" would have been more interesting to me if it hadn't been for its rampant familiarity. I did see "Despair" for the first time two weeks ago and I immediately related to it in way that superseded "The Scream". Perhaps it was the over-commercialism of pictures, figurines, and inflatable versions of the subject in "The Scream" that robbed it of any message forcing me to see it as little more than cartoonish. But "Despair" cleared that up for me and I now know what the message was meant to be.

The Scream, 1893. Tempera and pastel on board. 91 x 73.5 cm.

Despair, 1893-4. Oil on Canvas. 92 x 72.5 cm.

A Brief History

It would seem that if luck exists, it did not for Edvard. Edvard Munch was born on December 12, 1863 in Loten, Norway and grew up in Oslo after his family moved there when he was two years old. Two years later, his mother died of tuberculosis leaving his father, a military medical officer, in his primary care along with 4 other siblings. Nine years after his mother died, his eldest sister Sophie contracted the same disease and died at the age of fifteen. Edvard was very fond of his sister Sophie and she was the only sibling older than him. The two most important women in his life had died of the same disease during different periods of his adolescent development. In addition, his father was a devout Christian and injected fear into Edvard and his siblings that if they sinned, they would burn in hell for eternity. Furthermore, one of his youngest sisters was diagnosed with a mental illness early in life. His younger brother Peter turned out to be the only sibling to ever get married, but there is no happy ending here either. Peter died only months after the wedding. When considering these facts, its no wonder this man was so troubled. In fact, its a wonder that suicide wasn't his fate. Instead, he died at the age of eighty in the very city in which he grew up.

As an artist, he would discover some luck, though. He rapidly grew in fame after the exhibition the Verein Berliner Künstler in Germany; a rare fortune among many artists who are only recognized posthumously. For example, Vincent Van Gogh also struggled with depression and mental torment until he ultimately committed suicide having never experienced great public adoration for his work.

"After Further Review..."

The Dead Mother and Child, 1897-9. Oil on Canvas. 105 x 178.5 cm.

This is a particularly disturbing piece. Without even knowing Munch's history you might conclude that is a painting involving personal experience. The girl's wide eyes are the only ones visible in the room. The adults in the background are dealing with death as though they were experienced with it. This is new for this young girl and her panic sets in as she covers her ears in a seeming attempt to wish it all away. She is also the only one dressed in clothes of childlike innocent colors while the drab adorned adults pace in the background. The green walls and dirty orange floors leave me with a sour stomachache. I can so easily imagine what the smell of that room must have been like as someone lay dying for perhaps days.

Death in the Sickroom. 1895. Edvard Munch. Oil on canvas. 59 x 66 in. Nasjonalgalleriet at Oslo.

This piece seems to offer a different vantage point. Its important to note the same green walls and orange floors. This time, the only face seen is said to be that of his aunt. She stares forward as though she is paralyzed with sadness. On the floor near the bed is a bedpan and the girl in the foreground has her head bowed and hands clasped in prayer, agony, or both.

Spring, 1889. Oil on canvas. 169 x 263.5 cm.

This piece is a variation of Munch's "The Sick Child". In this version, the aunt's head is up looking out the open window while the sick girl glances back at her. The cloth in the sick girl's hand is stained with blood, most likely from coughing into it as a result of the final deadly stages of tuberculosis. The flasks on the table to the right give the eerie feeling that this girl has been taking medicine and probably a good deal of it. Even though the sun is shining through and the breeze is moving in through the drapery, I can't help but feel chilly, discontent, and haunted.

References

http://www.answers.com/topic/edvard-munch?cat=entertainment

http://www.edvard-munch.com/index1.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edvard_Munch

http://cgfa.dotsrc.org/munch/munch_bio.htm