“I felt the great scream through nature.”
Edvard Munch – hand-painted paintings in oil on canvas
The Scream was painted by the Norwegian painter Edvard Munch in 1893, and the best-known version hangs in the National Museum in Oslo. At SvetSlik.si you can order The Scream and 70 other Munch paintings as hand-painted oil reproductions on canvas, painted by our own painters. Every painting comes in several sizes – 199 formats across the gallery, from 40 x 36 cm to 300 x 200 cm – or in a custom size you give us, and prices start at 108 €. Delivery takes 15 to 45 working days, and before dispatch we send you a photograph of the finished painting for your approval.
The Scream – the painting everyone is looking for
The Scream shows a figure on a road above the Oslo fjord, holding its head in its hands under a blood-red evening sky, while two people walk on behind it. Munch described the moment himself: walking with two friends at sunset, he stopped, shaking with fear, and “felt the great scream through nature”. The Norwegian title is Skrik.
There is not just one Scream. Munch made two painted versions (1893 and 1910), two in pastel and a lithograph in 1895. The 1893 painting, in tempera and crayon on cardboard, is in the National Museum in Oslo; the 1910 version and one pastel are in the MUNCH museum, also in Oslo. Our The Scream is painted by hand in oil on canvas, in the size you choose.
The Frieze of Life – love, anxiety and death
Munch did not paint scenes so much as states of mind. He gathered his main paintings into a cycle he called The Frieze of Life, about love, anxiety and death, and he painted many motifs again and again in new versions. That is why his paintings are best chosen by theme.
Love and longing
The Kiss shows two lovers melting into one dark shape by a window. Madonna (1894) is a woman with closed eyes and a red halo, sensual and sacred at once, and Vampire (1895) – first called Love and Pain – shows a woman bending over a man’s neck, her red hair falling over him. Jealousy, Separation and Ashes follow love as it cools and ends. In The Dance of Life (1899–1900) couples dance on a summer evening by the sea, and The Woman in Three Stages shows the stages of a woman’s life side by side.
Anxiety, illness and loss
Munch’s mother died of tuberculosis when he was five, and his sister Sophie when he was thirteen. He painted that loss in The Sick Child (1885–86) and returned to it in Death in the Sickroom and The Dead Mother. Anxiety, Despair and Evening on Karl Johan (1892) carry the mood of The Scream: pale faces, a red sky, a crowd that seems to stare straight at you. Melancholy shows a man sitting alone on the shore, Puberty a young girl sitting on the edge of a bed, and Golgotha a crowd around the cross.
Light, nights and landscapes
The Girls on the Bridge (1901) shows three girls leaning on a bridge rail above still water, the most loved of his summer paintings. Starry Night, Winter Night and Moonlight are calm blue Nordic nights, and The Storm a night by the sea with lit windows. The Sun is the motif of the huge sun Munch painted for the assembly hall of the University of Oslo. The Yellow Log, Train Smoke and Workers Returning Home come from his later years, when his colours grew brighter.
Self-portraits
Munch painted himself all his life. In Self-Portrait with the Spanish Flu (1919) he sits wrapped in a blanket after surviving the flu epidemic, and in Self-Portrait. Between the Clock and the Bed (1940–43), one of his last works, he stands old and upright between a grandfather clock and a bed. Among the late works is also Weeping Nude.
The most searched Munch paintings at SvetSlik.si
By far the most searched is The Scream, followed by Anxiety, The Sun, Melancholy and Puberty. Next come Winter Night, Vampire, The Storm, The Sick Child, Separation and The Kiss.
Which Munch suits which room?
The Scream is a statement painting: it suits a study, an office or a hallway where people stop to look, rather than a bedroom. For a living room or above a sofa, the brighter and wider paintings work best, such as The Girls on the Bridge, The Sun or Starry Night. The Kiss and The Dance of Life suit a bedroom or a couple’s gift. Choose a painting about two thirds as wide as the furniture below it, and hang it so that its centre sits about 150 cm above the floor.
Sizes, prices, custom size, stretcher and frame
Each painting has its own range of sizes, matched to the proportions of the original, and the product page shows the price of every size. Across the gallery there are 199 formats, from 40 x 36 cm to 300 x 200 cm, and prices start at 108 €. If your wall needs a different measurement, send us the width and height: we paint to your own size. You choose how the painting is sent: rolled, stretched on a wooden stretcher ready to hang, or framed; stretching and framing are done in our workshop in Slovenia.
For the frame, use our 3D application: it shows our frame profiles on the painting you choose – the application is for choosing the frame only. If you would like to see how the painting will look on your own wall, that is our separate room placement service. For a gift, a wall art voucher lets the recipient choose the painting and the size.
How we hand-paint a Munch
Every painting is painted by hand in oil on canvas, layer by layer – it is not a print. Munch often painted thinly and quickly, so that the weave of the canvas shows through, with loose, flowing lines. Our painters follow that surface: thin layers where he painted thin, visible brushwork where he left it. Because each canvas is painted by hand, every copy is slightly different, just as Munch’s own versions of one motif differ. When the painting is finished, we send you a photograph; if something is not right, we correct it before the painting is sent. We ship across the EU and to the United Kingdom; the canvas is wrapped in protective film and packed in a sturdy box.
Edvard Munch in brief
Edvard Munch was born on 12 December 1863 in Løten in Norway and grew up in Kristiania, today’s Oslo. He studied and worked in Paris and Berlin, where his Frieze of Life made him famous, and is counted among the founders of Expressionism. He died on 23 January 1944 at his house at Ekely near Oslo and left his works to the city of Oslo. Read more in Edvard Munch – life and interesting facts.
Frequently asked questions
Who painted The Scream – was it Van Gogh?
No – The Scream was painted by the Norwegian painter Edvard Munch in 1893, three years after Van Gogh’s death. The two are often confused because both painted swirling skies and strong emotion. You can order The Scream from us as a hand-painted oil painting.
What does The Scream show, and what is the story behind it?
It shows a figure holding its head under a blood-red sky on a road above the Oslo fjord. Munch said he was walking at sunset with two friends when the sky turned red and he “felt the great scream through nature”. The painting has become a sign of modern anxiety.
How many versions of The Scream are there, and where is the original?
Munch made two painted versions, two pastels and a lithograph. The best-known painting from 1893 is in the National Museum in Oslo, and the 1910 version and a pastel are in the MUNCH museum in Oslo. One pastel from 1895 is in a private collection.
Which are Edvard Munch’s most famous paintings?
Besides The Scream, the best known are Madonna, Vampire, The Sick Child, Anxiety, The Girls on the Bridge, The Dance of Life and The Kiss. All of them are available in our gallery as hand-painted oil paintings.
How much is an original Munch worth, and what does a copy cost?
The originals are almost all in museums. In 2012 the 1895 pastel of The Scream sold at auction in New York for 119.9 million dollars, then a record. A hand-painted copy in oil on canvas from SvetSlik.si starts at 108 €; the price depends on the size you choose.
Is your Munch painting a print?
No – every painting is painted by hand in oil on canvas; it is not a print or a poster. You can see the brushstrokes and the texture of the canvas, every copy is slightly different, and you see your painting in a photograph before dispatch.
Which size should I choose?
Measure the furniture below where the painting will hang and choose a painting about two thirds of its width: above a three-seater sofa that is usually 120 to 160 cm, above a desk or in a hallway 50 to 70 cm. Every product page lists the available sizes with their prices, and if none fits, we paint it to your measurements.
How long does delivery take, and can I order a custom size?
Delivery takes 15 to 45 working days, depending on the painting and the size. A custom size is possible for every painting: send us the width and height and we paint the canvas to your measurements. Before dispatch you receive a photograph of the finished painting.