Anxiety
12:00 AM
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| Munch, Edvard, Anxiety, 1863-1944 |
The fiery colors of the background have no warmth behind the distressed faces, making it seem like a eternally regressing background. The painting clearly reveals Munch’s agoraphobia, through the muted and hopeless expressions of the people. Despite their obvious despair, Munch implies that the characters continue to walk forward, oblivious to anything but their living hell.
The cool colors and striking contrast in outlines and shading that Munch uses, further pushes his subjects forward, creating a progressive motion that pushes them over the bridge. All his subjects are practically faceless, except for the woman in the foreground who is portrayed with both hands in a strangling motion around her own neck.
The expressions almost seem robotic and inhuman. Uniform motion only adds to the horror of this painting. The swirling colors of the background create a vortex that traps the audience within Munch’s sense of panic that the woman clearly expresses.
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