Munch, at the age of 5 years, witnessed the death of his mother from tuberculosis, contracted the illness himself at age of 12, and 3 years later witnessed his sister's death from the same disease. His personality anxiety and obsessive moroseness were exhibited in the painting The Scream, an image which has become an almost universal representation of desperation (Figure 45).
FIGURE
45: THE SCREAM
BY EDVARD MUNCH
