Here's The Museum You Should Visit If You Want To See The Scream

Summer is the time to travel more and explore new places, whether that be in your home country or abroad. One way to broaden your horizons is to visit some of the world's most renowned pieces of art. That's not to say there aren't famous pieces of art in the United States — far from it. For example, you can see the likes of Grant Wood's "American Gothic" at the Art Institue of Chicago and Vincent Van Gogh's "Starry Night" at New York City's Museum of Modern Art.

But if you're looking for the work of a particular artist like Edvard Munch, there's a bit of travel involved. Most of Munch's work resides in Norway, specifically the Munch Museum in Oslo. According to Culture Trip, the Norwegian artist left the paintings he still had to the city, which then built a museum to house them in Tøyen, an area in Oslo where Munch grew up. While it does accommodate eight versions of "The Scream," you'll have to make your way to another museum in Oslo to find the one Munch painted first. Still, it's the perfect excuse for a summer vacation.

According to the Munch Museum, the artist created four versions of "The Scream," including two paintings and two drawings. Edvard Munch painted the first version of "The Scream" in 1893, which was donated to the National Gallery in Oslo in 1910. The National Gallery, a section of the National Museum of Art, Architecture, and Design (via Culture Trip), is a 25-minute walk from the Munch Museum, according to Google Maps. 

The 1893 painted version of "The Scream" has never left the National Gallery, but pastel versions of Munch's art have been shown across the world. From 2012 to 2013, Munch's 1895 pastel drawing of "The Scream" was exhibited at New York City's Museum of Modern Art, thanks to a private owner. According to The New York Times, this piece, in particular, is the only "Scream" that resides in the United States, courtesy to its owner. Described as the "most colorful of the four" pieces of art, this "Scream" also features a poem by Munch about the sunset depicted in the painting.

When Edvard Munch first painted "The Scream" in 1893, he also created a pastel version which is one of many on display at the Munch Museum. This version of "The Scream" also traveled outside of Norway, having been shown at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam in 2015 (via the Guardian).

Right now, the only place where you'll find any versions of "The Scream" is in Norway's capital Oslo — most of which can be found in the Munch Museum. Their collection includes sketchbooks and lithographs of the painting, which show Munch's process of creating the masterpiece that resides in the National Gallery. The Munch Museum's collection of "The Scream" is rotated as much as possible, as the materials Munch used are "relatively unstable," which could result in the art becoming overexposed in particular environments. As a result, the museum has "developed a finely balanced rotation system," ensuring that Munch's artwork remains pristine for centuries to come.