"The Scream" 1893
Edvard Munch (1863-1944)
“The Scream”, the Norwegian Evard Munch’s painting, and “Double Elvis”, Andy Warhol’s painting of the superstar are up for sale!
Known as the Mona Lisa of our time, “The Scream,” painted in 1893, is an icon of modern art.
The story goes that the emotionally fragile Munch was walking one evening with two friends at sunset. As he later described it, “the sun set, the air turned to blood, my friends faces turned ghastly yellow and I heard the giant scream of nature.”
Today the image has come to symbolize to some as the fear and anxiety that confronts us in our contemporary world. The painting is expected to sell for over $80 million.
Go ahead and scream if you want to!
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"Double Elvis" 1963
Andy Warhol (1928-1987)
It was 1956 and there was definitely some screamin’ goin’ on! The screamin’ was done by Elvis Presley’s fans (mainly teenage girls, of which I, your devoted blogger, was one) over his enormously popular and controversial performance of “You Ain’t Nothin’ but a Hound Dog.” Critics were outraged but Elvis was destined to become the “King of Rock and Roll,” and the best selling solo artist in the history of popular music.
“Double Elvis” is a breath-taking moment in Art History. Painted by Andy Warhol, superstar artist, the work is a silkscreen..simply a blown up photograph glued on silk and painted with ink.
Elvis, the man and the legend, stares at us down the barrel of a gun; the lone cowboy confronting the great American frontier. “Double Elvis” is expected to sell for $50 million.
Now, let’s all scream! Watch “The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll!
Click here if unable to view the video “
Those are definitely 2 paintings worth screaming about. I have a question about “The Scream.” I haven’t seen it in person, but from the photo it looks like it’s pastels or chalk – it it really oils? Just curious. And that’s what you do best, Kirby – arouse curiosity. It’s hard to believe that painting was from 1893. It looks so contemporary.
PS: In my day, we were screaming about the Beatles.
Thank you for sharing these cultural pearls of wisdom. Keep ’em coming.
Hi Kirby.I certainly enjoyed seeing Elvis again but I kept looking into the audience looking for a pretty teen aged curly haired moppet hoping to get a glimpse of you. Ron
I no longer regard the Scream as ironical or even satirical as I once did. The Scream is within us all and the image is easily deciphered without owning the origional.
Kirby, I went to see Elvis at the Colliseum in Houston. I wanted to scream, because the thousands of teenage girls did NOT stop screaming and moaning and practically falling down in response to Elvis. I never heard a word he sang or even the music itself. But at least I can say I breathed the same air as Elvis.
Since you offered this blog, I believe Munch’s “Scream” sold for over 100 million. Wish I had held onto the exact amount, so I’d know how to adjust the volume of my scream at the mysteries and marvels of the marketplace. L
Let it all out! (Were both artists advertizing the good life(s) ? )