February 23, 2021

Edvard Munch, “The Scream” (1910) (Courtesy of the National Gallery in Oslo, Norway via Wikimedia Commons)

A tiny message hidden in Edvard Munch's famous painting "The Scream" was written by the artist himself, a new investigation of the work has found, finally resolving one of modern art's most enduring mysteries. The discovery was revealed following several infrared scans the 1893 painting has undergone in preparation for its installment in the new national museum of norway due to open in Oslo in 2021. This finding will make art lovers scream all over again.

The expressionist masterpiece is one of the most celebrated works of modern times, heralded as a timeless depiction of human anxiety. The subject's anguished face has become so familiar that it was recently given its own emoji.

"The writing has always been visible to the naked eye, but it's been very difficult to interpret," said Thierry Ford, paintings conservator at the National Museum. "Through a microscope, you can see that the pencil lines are physically on top of the paint and have been applied after the painting was finished."

The pencil inscription reads: “Can only have been painted by a madman,” infrared scans have shown.

And though historians have long known about the phrase, small and hidden among the distorted brushstrokes that make up the howling figure, there’s been some speculation that it was graphitized by an observer, not the Norwegian artist.

Infrared photography at the National Museum of Norway. Photo Annar Bjorgli/The National Musuem 

Curators used infrared technology to analyze the message, which was added on top of the finished painting, comparing it with Munch’s notes and letters and studying events around the time of the work’s first public showing. Curators believe the inscription happened following an incident in 1895 when munch exhibited the painting for the first time, provoking furious criticism and public speculation on the artist’s mental health. It’s likely that munch added the text shortly after in response to the judgement on his work and himself. It’s known he was profoundly hurt by this incident as he spoke about it many times in his letters and diary entries. Munch was profoundly hurt by the accusations and returned to the incident again and again in letters and diary entries. Both his father and sister suffered bouts of depression and Munch was finally hospitalised after a nervous breakdown in 1908.

The painting, which is one of four, has rarely been seen since it was briefly stolen nearly 20 years ago. In 2021, a pastel version sold for nearly $120 million during a Sotheby's auction in New York — a world record at the time.

Visitors will be able to see the writing for themselves when the painting goes on display in the National Museum’s new building due to open in Oslo in 2022. The Scream will be displayed with a number of Munch’s most iconic works, such as Madonna, The Dance of Life and Self-Portrait with Cigarette, in the new Munch room.