No longer shall I paint interiors with men reading and women knitting. I will paint living people who breathe and feel and suffer and love.

The 1895 pastel sold at auction on 2 May 2012 for US$119922500 including commission. The therapy Munch received for the next eight months included diet and "electrification" (a treatment then fashionable for nervous conditions not to be confused with electroconvulsive therapy). During these early years in his career Munch experimented with many styles including Naturalism and Impressionism.

Edvard Munch (Norwegian: [ˈɛdvɑʁd ˈmʉŋk]; 12 December 1863 – 23 January 1944) was a Norwegian painter and printmaker whose intensely evocative treatment of psychological themes built upon some of the main tenets of late 19th-century Symbolism and greatly influenced German Expressionism in the early 20th century. One of his most well-known works is The Scream of 1893.