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This painting draws on two earlier departures: the anxious humanity moving forward as if driven by ominous elemental forces, as first conceived in Evening on Karl Johan Street; and a certain view of Oslo Fjord, already seen in The Scream. Both were destined to recur with considerable fidelity in Anxiety and in other works of the same period.
In Anxiety, Munch repeats closely many elements of The Scream. The same jetty that accommodated a single alienated personage appears again, as do the lake in the distance, the two boats, the church, and other structures that line the shore just a little less dimly than before. They are all quoted from the earlier work, as are the gloomy hues and the intense swirls of concentrically enlarging lines that define and ultimately embrace land, sea, and sky.
If, however, The Scream deals with the horror experienced in total isolation by a single being, Anxiety plays upon collective despair. the sentiment of angst in this work is even more sustained, if less piercing, than in The Scream, since its desperation is here borne by a group rather than by an isolated individual.
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