In the upper left corner of Edvard Munch's painting 'The Scream' are the words "It could only have been painted by a madman!".

Edvard Munch's 1893 painting The Scream has had a huge impact on popular culture, inspiring films such as Home Alone and The Scream.

These remain some of the most recognizable works of art. Behind the gaunt, haunted face of the painting lies a more somber meaning.

"Kan kun være malet af en gal Mand!" (It could only have been painted by a madman!). The chilling words in the upper left corner of the painting have puzzled art historians for 100 years. What does it mean? When was it written? Who wrote it?

Munch: A Troubled Man

Born in 1863, Edvard Munch was one of the most influential artists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Norwegian painter used art as a way to escape the heavily conservative society in which he grew up.

Munch’s childhood was haunted by illness, loss and the fear of a genetic mental illness that left him without his mother, sister and two younger siblings. His melancholy life gave Munch’s paintings a sense of darkness and extreme sadness. It was the feeling of a man trapped in a society that was oppressing, paralysed by depression.

There was more than one ‘Scream’

Munch is best known for his series of Screams, which consisted of three oil paintings, a pastel and a lithograph created between 1893 and 1917. All were part of a larger series called Frozen Life. It is a metaphor for modern life with its anxiety, instability, and helplessness in a hostile environment.

Munch wrote about the inspiration for The Scream in his diary:

“I was walking with two friends on the road. The sun was setting, and suddenly the sky turned red like blood. I stopped, feeling exhausted, and leaned against the fence - there was blood and fire above the bay, tinged with blue-black. My friends walked on, and I stood there trembling with anxiety. I felt an endless scream piercing the air”.

The excerpt describes the setting of the painting. The two characters in the background may be Munch’s friends, and the haunting face belongs to Munch himself, “trembling with anxiety”.

This sharing also shows that the scream is not from the character but from nature. The expression on the character’s face is a reaction to the scream. There is a certain ambiguity in the painting that makes us think of many people and states of mental anguish.

Controversial as soon as it appeared

According to Artsper, it is not surprising that such a painting would cause a stir in the art community. The work was first exhibited at the Blomqvist Gallery in Oslo (Norway) in 1895. Viewers criticized both the style and the subject matter of the work.

In that era, mentioning mental health was taboo, and such a bold portrayal of the subject immediately caused scandal. Many criticized Munch, even a medical student who thought the artist was crazy.

The painting seems to have been inspired by artists like Paul Gauguin and Edouard Manet. The bold, brightly colored lines are typical of Expressionism.

The writer of the text in ‘The Scream’

In the upper left corner of the 1893 painting, hidden among the billowing red clouds, is the text “It could only have been painted by a madman!”. The first person to notice it was a Danish art critic in 1904, more than 10 years after the painting was unveiled to the public. Since then, viewers have often wondered who would deface a painting in such a way and why?

Initially, everyone concluded that the inscription was a sabotage attempt, possibly by some disgruntled people who were not satisfied with what Munch was portraying. After the backlash against the painting in 1895, it was not hard to believe that someone had a plot to deface the work. People ruled out the possibility that Munch wrote this strange inscription.

The painting has inspired many creators, from the movie poster 'The Scream', emoticons and Macaulay Culkin's expression in 'Home Alone'

In 2021, the mystery of the painting that lasted more than 100 years was solved ahead of an exhibition at the National Museum of Norway. Art experts at the University of Norway have discovered the culprit. The writing is visible to the naked eye but becomes clearer when using infrared technology. According to Scientific America, experts realized that the writing was not written by a disgruntled viewer. When comparing the handwriting, researchers discovered the truth. The writer was Munch!

Historians believe that Munch wrote the writing after the work received negative reactions. The Norwegian painter was a troubled and complex person. It is believed that in a moment of melancholy, he wrote the ironic, tragic sentence on his own painting.