# It's Edvard Munch's birthday **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 12, 2006, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-edvard-munchs-birthday/383848 "2006-12-12T18:40:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-edvard-munchs-birthday/383848/1 "2006-12-12T18:40:42Z")
This is probably more MPSIMS material, but it’s art-related, so into the Cafe it goes. Today is the 143rd anniversary of Mr. Munch’s birth, and Google has updated their [logo](http://www.google.com/logos/edvard_munch_res.gif) to reflect that fact. We’re all familiar with [_The Scream_](http://eos.uom.gr/~tsadiras/art/munch.scream.jpg), but probably very few of us are familiar with his other works. So take a minute to [read about him](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edvard_Munch), and look at his paintings. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-edvard-munchs-birthday/383848/2 "2006-12-12T18:44:27Z")
Edvard! You Veirdo, you! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-edvard-munchs-birthday/383848/3 "2006-12-12T18:46:01Z")
In honor of the illustrious Mr. Munch… :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-edvard-munchs-birthday/383848/4 "2006-12-12T18:48:24Z")
Shall I be nerdy and describe how I worked Munch references into one of my Star Trek fanfics? No? Good choice. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-edvard-munchs-birthday/383848/5 "2006-12-12T18:51:07Z")
[QUOTE=lieu] In honor of the illustrious Mr. Munch… :eek: [/QUOTE] Having knowledge of your posts and their intrinsic humor, I have the dubious pleasure of actually _understanding_ what you meant, **lieu**! 😃 Quasi ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-edvard-munchs-birthday/383848/6 "2006-12-12T20:57:41Z")
The Scream is my favorite painting. In honor of Edvard, I think I’ll go outside and yell a little bit. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2006, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-edvard-munchs-birthday/383848/7 "2006-12-13T00:29:54Z")
It’s my wallpaper today. Just my little token of appreciation. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2006, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-edvard-munchs-birthday/383848/8 "2006-12-13T01:14:12Z")
{:eek:} ( **Madonna** doesn’t quite translate so well to a smiley, I’m afraid. Happy birthday, Mr. Munch. :)) ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2006, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-edvard-munchs-birthday/383848/9 "2006-12-13T01:30:08Z")
Google posted _The Scream_ on their page today, and for a while the link to the image was broken. For a moment I wondered if it had been taken by some digital art thieves. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2006, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-edvard-munchs-birthday/383848/10 "2006-12-13T01:58:48Z")
What a perfectly awesome person to share a birthday with 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Elysium](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3be4f8/32.png) [@Elysium](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elysium)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2006, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-edvard-munchs-birthday/383848/11 "2006-12-13T02:44:23Z")
i was in love with his Madonna in high school. Happy birthday Mr. Munch! ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2006, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-edvard-munchs-birthday/383848/12 "2006-12-13T04:35:19Z")
So, who is screaming in “The Scream”? While watching an Ovation show called “Portrait of a Masterpiece”, I learned something about this painting that I did not know, which led to me [wikipedia.org](http://wikipedia.org): “I was walking along a path 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 anxiety—and I sensed an infinite scream passing through nature.” - Edvard Munch And this: Sabrina Laurent (May 2005) deduced from Munch’s description of his inspiration that the person in the foreground is the artist himself who “is not in fact screaming but simply reacting with horror to the scream of Nature. By placing his hands on his ears, Munch is desperately trying not to hear this scream that is putting him in some kind of panic attack.”