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If you are an art collector, then art does not really have any meaning for you, and the only purpose of art for you would be to earn profits.

However, for the rest of us, which includes the artist, the curator and the viewer, art can have very different meanings and a very different purpose.

I am a humanist in my values, so I tend to fall for Van Gogh’s quote; “ Art is to console those, who are broken by life,” and here in this blog I will discuss my view of looking at art.

This is a series, with multiple episodes (blogs), a bit like a Netflix series. In this Episode, I will introduce you to a very popular work of art, my take on it, what does it mean, what is its purpose, and how does it help make the World, a better place to live in.

( Link to Previous episodes, is provided at the end of this blog)

Edvard Munch’s — Scream

Edvard Munch’s — Scream, remains, till date, among one of the most expensive and sought after paintings in the world, in the league of the best work by Da Vinci, Picasso and Cezanne.

If you look at the “Mona Lisa”, the first thing that comes to your mind is — “ Gosh! I could never ever paint that well!,” however, when you look at the “Scream”, the first thought that comes to your mind, is quite the opposite! Why then is it so much sought after?

Meaning from Munch’s POV: Munch describes his painting as a poem of love, life, and death. It is based on an experience he had when he was walking with two friends.

…“I was out walking with two friends — the sun was setting — suddenly the sky turned blood red — I paused, feeling exhausted, and leaned on the fence — there was blood and tongues of fire above the blue-black fjord and the city — my friends walked on, and I stood there trembling with angst — and I sensed an endless SCERAM passing through nature.”

Meaning from my POV: However, same as beauty, meaning too, lies in the eyes of the beholder. When, I saw this painting first, I was reading a book written by Greta Thunberg. Not surprisingly, I visualised the horrified person in the foreground as Greta, and the two other people, walking calmly on the bridge, behind her, as two very cold-blooded climate-change deniers. I would leave it to your imagination, as to, who could those two be?!?

What would your interpretation of this artwork be? Do share in the comments?

The meaning I have attached to the painting, of course is linked to the purpose I want to achieve out of it. My purpose, in turn, is influenced by my values, and my values find their roots in all the information I have sucked in over the years, from my surroundings — videos, books, peer group, teachers and so on.

In Munch’s case, it is more of an expression of awe, triggered by the sudden change in his immediate natural environment. That is his purpose — to express his emotions, as he felt them at the moment, which is not very different from the meaning! as far as Munch is concerned, there doesn’t seem to be much need to scratch beneath the surface. It is, what it is. Period.

This helps us safely complete, what I call as the “CHAIN of MEANING”

Information → Values → Purpose → Meaning