The Scream
Why has The Scream become one of the most famous artworks in the world? And what happened when this ghoulish image was stolen - not just once, but twice? Join Alastair and James as they explore the remarkable story and surpising afterlife of Edvard Munch's enigmatic portrait of despair.
Artworks in this episode:
Edvard Munch, The Scream, 1893, The National Museum, Oslo
Leonardo da Vinci, Mona Lisa, 1503-19, Musée du Louvre, Paris
Edvard Munch, Morning, 1884, KODE, Bergen
Edvard Munch, The Sick Child, 1885-86, The National Museum, Oslo
Edvard Munch, Ashes, 1895, The National Museum, Oslo
Edvard Munch, The Dance of Life, 1899-1900, The National Museum, Oslo
Edvard Munch, Love and Pain (Vampire), 1895, Munch Museum, Oslo
Edvard Munch, Evening on Karl Johan, 1892, Bergen Kunstmuseum, Bergen
Edvard Munch, The Scream, 1893, Munch Museum, Oslo
Edvard Munch, The Scream, 1910, Munch Museum, Oslo
Edvard Munch, The Scream, 1895, Private Collection
Edvard Munch, Despair (Sick Mood at Sunset), 1892, Thiel Gallery, Stockholm
Edvard Munch, Despair, 1894, Munch Museum, Oslo
Andy Warhol, The Scream (after Munch), 1984, Museum of Modern Art, New York
Book Recommendation
Recommended Reading
Heidi Bale Amundsen (editor), Edvard Munch: The Scream, 2024
Sue Prideaux, Edvard Munch: Behind The Scream, 2005
Dr James Fox is a Cambridge art historian, bestselling author and multi award-winning broadcaster. He is Director of Studies in History of Art at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and Creative Director of the Hugo Burge Foundation. His critically-acclaimed books on art and culture have been translated into fourteen languages. His most recent title and best-seller Craftland: a journey through Britain’s Lost Arts and Vanishing Trades (2025) has been named Waterstones Book of the Year, BBC’s book of the week and shortlisted for the Nero Book Prize. James is perhaps best known for his many arts documentaries for the BBC, including A History of Art in Three Colours, The Art of Japanese Life The Age of the Image and Nature and Us: a history through Art
Alastair Sooke is an author and broadcaster, and chief art critic at The Telegraph, for which he has been covering art since 2003. He has presented more than 60 hours of television and radio for the BBC (Modern Masters, Treasures of Ancient Egypt, An Art Lovers’ Guide) and written several books, including studies of Henri Matisse and Georges Seurat, and a history of Pop art. He is a trustee of The Ampersand Foundation and was educated at the University of Oxford and the Courtauld Institute of Art.
More episodes
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2:20
Trailer
Stories of Art brings together art historian Dr. James Fox and art critic Alastair Sooke to uncover the most inspiring and compelling stories from the history of art.
44:44
Monet and the Birth of Impressionism (Part 1)
In this episode Dr James Fox and Alastair Sooke tell first part of the story of Claude Monet's ‘Impression, Sunrise’ and the First Impressionist Exhibition of 1874.
51:38
Monet and the Birth of Impressionism (Part 2)
In this episode Dr James Fox and Alastair Sooke conclude the story of Claude Monet's ‘Impression, Sunrise’ and the First Impressionist Exhibition of 1874.
