# Is it correct to refer to some of Edvard Munch's The Scream versions as chromolithographs?

**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-correct-to-refer-to-some-of-edvard-munchs-the-scream-versions-as-chromolithographs/995778
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Tags:** arts-crafts
**Created:** [January 8, 2024, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-correct-to-refer-to-some-of-edvard-munchs-the-scream-versions-as-chromolithographs/995778 "2024-01-08T13:59:27Z")
**Posts on this page:** 8
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![Octagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/2acd7d/32.png) [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)
#### Post date: [January 8, 2024, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-correct-to-refer-to-some-of-edvard-munchs-the-scream-versions-as-chromolithographs/995778/1 "2024-01-08T13:59:27Z")

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Is it correct to refer to some of Edvard Munch’s The Scream versions as ‘chromolithographs’? I’ve only ever seen these versions referred to as lithographs.

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### Author: ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)
#### Post date: [January 8, 2024, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-correct-to-refer-to-some-of-edvard-munchs-the-scream-versions-as-chromolithographs/995778/2 "2024-01-08T15:18:32Z")

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Which version? A chromolithograph uses a bunch of different colours. If you just take a normal black-and-white lithograph and then tint it by hand, that is a different process.

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### Author: ![Octagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/2acd7d/32.png) [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)
#### Post date: [January 8, 2024, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-correct-to-refer-to-some-of-edvard-munchs-the-scream-versions-as-chromolithographs/995778/3 "2024-01-08T22:34:53Z")

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There was only one lithograph version Munch made of The Scream. That was his lithograph of 1895. Can it be termed a chromolithograph?

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### Author: ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2024, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-correct-to-refer-to-some-of-edvard-munchs-the-scream-versions-as-chromolithographs/995778/4 "2024-01-09T00:40:25Z")

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I believe that was just an (ordinary) lithograph.

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### Author: ![Octagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/2acd7d/32.png) [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2024, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-correct-to-refer-to-some-of-edvard-munchs-the-scream-versions-as-chromolithographs/995778/5 "2024-01-09T03:22:23Z")

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Thanks DPRK.

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### Author: ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2024, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-correct-to-refer-to-some-of-edvard-munchs-the-scream-versions-as-chromolithographs/995778/6 "2024-01-09T17:29:14Z")

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I’ve done stone lithography, and my wife has a degree in fine arts printmaking. We’d just call it a lithograph, no matter how many colors the artist used.

Strictly speaking, you wouldn’t be incorrect to call it a chromolithograph, but that’s usually thought of as a mass production printing printing process used to print thousands of examples, and they’re all supposed to be exactly the same. Fine arts prints are usually just a few dozen prints, sometimes a few hundred. Since they’re normally hand inked, some variation in the print is accepted and sometimes desired.

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### Author: ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2024, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-correct-to-refer-to-some-of-edvard-munchs-the-scream-versions-as-chromolithographs/995778/7 "2024-01-09T18:43:22Z")

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My point was that, as far as I know, it was a black-and-white lithograph, and that if he colored some of the prints he did so by hand.

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### Author: ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2024, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-correct-to-refer-to-some-of-edvard-munchs-the-scream-versions-as-chromolithographs/995778/8 "2024-01-09T19:18:00Z")

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Ya know, I’m not sure if he did any color lithos of The Scream. All of the versions I can find that aren’t paint or pastel are indeed black and white.

In my defense, he did do color lithos, such as The Sin.

> **[Edvard Munch | The Sin (Woman with Red Hair and Green Eyes) | The...](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/364581)**
