Blogscream

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Apparently, this is Post #5,000 at The Reaction. And, well, the blog's come a long way since this, Post #1, way back on March 29, 2005.

What did I write about that week? Mostly about the deaths of Pope John Paul II and Terri Schiavo. And about the media.

And here we are now, a group blog with, if I may say so, some of the finest bloggers to be found anywhere. I want to thank them all again for all that they've done to make this blog what it is today. I certainly couldn't have done it without them.

And thank you, too, to all of you, our readers, as well as to all of my friends in the blogosphere. It's a genuine pleasure, and a richly rewarding experience, to be part of this community.

Anyway, on we go...

I'll get back to politics soon enough, but, as some of you may know, I also blog about art from time to time. And my favourite painter, one on whom I have blogged before (here, here, and here), is Edvard Munch. So why not just post The Scream here on the occasion of the 5,000th post?

Here it is, one of several versions of the masterpiece, this one at the National Gallery of Norway in Oslo:

There have been some excellent books written about Munch and The Scream, but I'd recommend these two:

-- Edvard Munch: Behind the Scream, by Sue Prideaux

-- The Rescue Artist: A True Story of Art, Thieves, and the Hunt for a Missing Masterpiece, by Edward Dolnick.

An excellent collection of Munch's work can be found in Edvard Munch: The Modern Life of the Soul, published by New York's Museum of Modern Art.

I'd also recommend Peter Watkins's magnificant film, Edvard Munch. I'd rank it among the best films of all time.