Edvard Munch was a pioneering Norwegian expressionist painter known for his work The Scream. Painted in 1893, The Scream depicts the universal anxiety of modern man and was inspired by Munch's own personal anguish over failed relationships. Munch sought to express feelings of anxiety, fear, death, and melancholy through his art, which was likely influenced by his diagnosis of bipolar disorder. The Scream is one of Munch's most famous works and one of the most recognizable paintings in art history.