Munch was born in 1863, and before long he had come to know the intensity of emotional pain. His father was a doctor who often bought patients to the Munch home. His mother died when Edvard was five years old, his older sister died of disease at the age of fifteen, and Edvard himself was often ill. One of his youngest sisters was also diagnosed with a mental illness at an early age. With death and illness as a major element in his life, he felt the need to find a way of expressing this.

After a year at a Technical school to study engineering, Munch became dedicated to his artwork. He left Technical school and entered a school of design.

In 1886 he produced the painting titled The Sick Child, which was inspired by the death of his sister Sophie. Munch produced the image six times in oils and twice in prints, slowly developing the technique that gave the final, intensely textured and dark painting. People

Edvard wrote of the inspiration of the painting in his diary.

"I was out walking with two friends - the sun began to set - 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 anxiety - and I sensed an endless scream passing through nature. "

The purpose of the painting was to express the anxiety, fear and stress of the scream through vehement line and colour. The body is distorted, twisted and disfigured with terror. The lines of the sky, the water, and the floorboards create the effect of vibrations, swirling around the figure's head, relentlessly.

In 1940 Munch gave all his works of art to the City of Oslo. Four years later he died of pneumonia in Ekely, near Oslo. A museum was opened near his house to display his work.

Munch became interested in the theme of workers and the sight of snow shovellers. He was convinced that it was time for workers to be recognised and he hoped to complete a series of murals on the theme. He never completed this project, and in 1930 he began to experience eye trouble. 7 years later, eighty-two pieces of his work was confiscated and sold for being branded as degenerate. He dulled down his paintings and produced such works as 'Self Portrait between Clock and Bed' which depicted the artist at seventy-seven, poised between time and his final resting place, his bed. I

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Approximate Word count = 999
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)