Question 641

The original title given to The X by Y was The X of Nature. In a page in Y's diary headed 22.01.1892, Y described his inspiration for the image thus:

“

I was walking along a path with two friends — the sun was setting — suddenly the sky turned blood red — I paused, feeling exhausted, and leaned on the fence — there was blood and tongues of fire above the blue-black fjord and the city — my friends walked on, and I stood there trembling with anxiety — and I sensed an infinite X passing through nature.

”

One theory advanced to account for the reddish sky in the background is that Y had observed the event Z in 1883: the ___ that was ejected from the Z left the sky tinted red in much of eastern United States and most of Europe and Asia from the end of November 1883 to mid February 1884. This explanation has been disputed by scholars who note that Y was an expressive, rather than descriptive painter, and was therefore not primarily responsive to literal rendering.

Identify X, Y and Z.


Answer: The Scream (X) by Edvard Munch (Y) which is inspired by the Eruption of Krakatoa (Z)