To die is as if one's eyes had been put out and one cannot see anything any more. Perhaps it is like being shut in a cellar. One is abandoned by all. They have slammed the door and are gone. One does not see anything and notices only the damp smell of putrefaction.

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.