Why is "The Scream" screaming? - Noah Charney

翻译人员: Lark Yu 校对人员: Sue Lu

An undulating sky melds into the landscape,

波澜起伏的天空与地面景观融为一体，

two silhouettes move along a balustraded walkway,

两个人影沿着有栏杆的人行道向前行进，

and a ghostly figure’s features extend in agony.

一个幽灵般的人，面部在痛苦中扭曲。

Since Norwegian artist Edvard Munch created “The Scream” in 1893,

挪威画家爱德华·蒙克 在 1893 年创作的《呐喊》，

it’s become one of the world’s most famous artworks.

后来成为举世闻名的画作之一。

But why has its cry traveled so far and endured so long?

为何这个“呐喊”跨越时空、久盛不衰？

Munch was born in 1863, one of five children.

蒙克出生于 1863 年， 是家中五个孩子之一。

Tuberculosis devastated Europe throughout the 1800s,

整个十九世纪，结核病肆虐欧洲，

killing almost a quarter of all adults.

导致近四分之一的成年人丧生,

It took Munch’s mother’s life, then his elder sister’s.

也夺走了蒙克母亲和姐姐的生命。

Soon after, Munch had his own bout of the disease.

随后不久，蒙克自己也患上结核病。

Another of his sisters experienced mental illness

他的另一个姐姐则罹患精神疾病，

and lived much of her life in an institution.

在精神病院中度过了她的大半生。

Meanwhile, Munch flitted in and out of school due to illness,

与此同时，蒙克因生病学业断断续续，

often spending days at home,

经常在家中待上数日，

drawing and listening to the ominous stories his father read aloud.

画画，听父亲大声朗读不详预言故事。

A devout Lutheran, his father considered Munch’s artistic ambitions unholy.

虔诚路德教徒的父亲认为 蒙克的艺术野心亵渎了神明。

“I inherited the seeds of madness,” Munch wrote.

“我传承了疯狂的种子，”蒙克写道。

“The angels of fear, sorrow, and death stood by my side

“恐惧、悲伤和死亡天使一直陪伴在侧,

since the day I was born.”

从我出生那天起一直如此。“

Eventually, Munch moved to Berlin, where he frequented creative circles

最终，蒙克移居柏林， 并经常光顾艺术家作家圈子,

committed to breaking with academic tradition

致力于打破学术传统，

and instead developing their crafts organically.

并相时而动地发展绘画技艺。

While Munch had trained classically,

虽然蒙克接受过古典绘画训练，

he began immersing himself in what he called “soul painting”—

他开始沉浸在自谓的“灵魂画” 中——

compositions that prized raw, subjective affect over realistic rendering.

强调原始、主观情感，而非逼真描绘。

“It’s not the chair that should be painted,” he wrote,

“应该画的不是椅子，“他写道，

“but what a person has felt at the sight of it.”

”而是人们看到它的感受。“

Many of Munch’s works dealt with personal suffering.

蒙克的不少作品，个人痛苦是其主题。

This may have also led to what certain critics observed

这让某些艺术评论家认为

as unsympathetic portrayals of women

其作品对描绘的女性缺乏同情，

in works where Munch represented them as cruel predators victimizing hapless men.

把女人画成伤害不幸男人的残忍掠夺者。

And death often haunted Munch’s compositions—

蒙克的作品经常将死亡融入其中——

from a skeleton helming a boat to a morbid self-portrait

从掌舵的骷髅到病态的自画像，

and his sister's final moments to a mother on her deathbed,

从他姐姐的弥留之际到一个临终的母亲，

her child assuming a now-familiar expression.

她的孩子显出一种”屡见不鲜“的表情。

Munch’s art generated controversy—

蒙克的艺术产生非议——

some critics characterizing him as “absolutely demented”—

一些批评家认为他“绝对是精神错乱” ，

but it also drew acclaim.

但他同时也赢得赞誉。

And what would become his most famous work was just around the corner.

此刻，他举世闻名的作品即将诞生。

“The Scream” was inspired by a moment that overwhelmed Munch

《呐喊》的灵感源自一个

with an acute sense of anguish.

他被极度痛苦所击溃的时刻。

In a diary entry marked January 22nd, 1892,

在 1892 年 1 月 22 日的日记中，

Munch described walking with two friends along a fjord

蒙克记叙了和两个朋友沿着峡湾散步，

overlooking what’s now Oslo at sunset.

在位于现在的奥斯陆俯瞰日落风景。

He leaned against a fence, exhausted, as he saw the sky change suddenly.

他正疲惫地斜倚栏杆，忽见天空突变。

He described “blood and tongues of fire above the blue-black fjord and the city.”

“蓝黑色峡湾及城市上空的血红和火舌。”

As his friends walked on, Munch wrote, “I stood there trembling with anxiety—

当他的朋友继续前行， 蒙克写道：“我站在原地焦虑到颤抖，

and I sensed an infinite scream passing through nature.”

我感受到一种无尽的呐喊响彻天地。”

As with other painful experiences, Munch revisited the scene repeatedly.

就如其他痛彻心扉的经历一样， 蒙克为创作多次重温这个场景。

First, he depicted it with a more recognizably human subject.

首先，他用更易识别的人性主题来描绘；

But the following year, he surrendered it to dramatic, abstracted symbolism,

第二年，他则诉诸于 更夸张抽象的象征主义，

the haunting expression on the figure’s skull-like face

让人物骷髅般的脸上令人难忘的表情

meeting the viewer’s gaze directly.

与观者目光直接交汇。

On this first version, he added a subtle, wry inscription:

在画作首版上，他加了巧妙自嘲的题词：

“Could only have been painted by a madman!”

“此画只有疯子才能画出！”

Based on Munch’s account, many think the figure isn’t emitting the shriek

根据蒙克的记叙， 不少人认为画中人并非发出呐喊，

but reacting to it.

而是对呐喊做出回应。

Munch eventually made four versions of “The Scream”—

蒙克最终画了四个版本的《呐喊》——

all on cardboard, two with pastel, two with paint—

都用画板，两幅粉彩画两幅油画——

and he created numerous prints and lithographs.

他还创作了无数版画和石版画。

The year following the first “Scream,” he depicted the same setting

继第一幅《呐喊》后， 第二年他在同样背景上

but featured a collection of despairing faces.

构画了一组绝望的面孔。

In late 1893, Munch premiered “The Scream” at a solo exhibit in Berlin.

1893 年底，蒙克在柏林个展上 首展了《呐喊》。

The artwork’s bold composition helped fuel the Expressionist movement,

作品的大胆构图推动了印象主义运动，

which likewise emphasized stark psychological states,

该运动同样注重直白的心理状态，

mapping the emotional contours of World War I and beyond.

勾勒一战以及之后的情感轮廓。

“The Scream” continued its crescendo.

《呐喊》继续其蓬勃发展之势，

When it entered the public domain in the mid-1900s,

在20世纪中期进入大众视野时，

new renditions and reproductions bolstered its fame.

新版和复制品层出不穷，让其声名鹊起。

It featured in popular films during the 1990s,

并在 90 年代热门电影中崭露头角。

and both painted versions of “The Scream” were stolen and recovered

两幅油画版《呐喊》失而复得，

in separate heists in 1994 and 2004.

它们在 1994 和 2004 年时被盗。

Soon enough, it was a widely accepted archetypal symbol for horror and angst.

很快此画作被公认为恐惧和忧虑的原型，

A “Scream”-inspired emoji was eventually implemented.

受“呐喊”启发的表情符号应运而生。

And, considering how to mark hazardous sites so far-off future generations

针对如何标记危险地点以便后代子孙

could know to avoid them,

能够识别避开，

the US government has considered using “The Scream” expression.

美国政府已考虑使用“呐喊”式表达。

While its myriad cultural influences may not always reflect

尽管它的大量文化影响未必总能反应

the personal agony Munch initially rendered,

蒙克最初描绘的个人痛苦，

“The Scream” has certainly found a near universal echo.

《呐喊》无疑获得了全世界广泛的回应。