Edvard Munch

About Edvard Munch

Edvard Munch (1863–1944) was a pivotal Norwegian painter whose work helped usher in the Expressionist movement, heavily influencing modern art throughout the 20th century. His profound psychological depth, evident in iconic pieces like *The Scream*, cemented his historical status, earning him the #249 rank in MIT’s Historical Popularity Index due to his global cultural impact across various languages and time periods. His exploration of themes like anxiety, love, and mortality provided a raw emotional counterpoint to earlier artistic traditions.

Despite his high historical standing, Munch’s modern internet visibility suggests a disconnect. In 2025, he garnered approximately 589K annualized Wikipedia views. To put this in perspective, this is just over 1x his expected attention relative to his historical importance (Attention Gap of ~1x). While not deeply neglected, he receives significantly less attention than many less historically vital contemporaries; for example, the much lower-ranked Warren Buffett (#890 importance) drew 3.7M views in the same year. Munch's attention levels show a slight erosion, with a 6.6% year-over-year decline and a Q1 vs Q3 momentum drop of -19%, suggesting that his critical influence is not currently translating into sustained, high-volume digital interest.