It's literally the only Munch painting people know. Only popular because it shows up in media, just cuz zoomer edgelords that identify with it.
Dont have to take my word for it:
Chief Art Critic Rachel Campbell-Johnston is not a fan. The Scream’s popularity, she believes, derives from a tendency to regard artforms prefixed with adjectives like “edgy”, “dark” and “disturbing” as somehow superior to those which are light and joyful
“The Scream is almost childish in its directness,” she says. “That’s why you see it in so many university halls of residence. What you get out of that painting is not something that deepens over time. “It appeals to an immature taste. As you get older you want something different – art that transforms the everyday rather than goes to the extremes of human emotion.”
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