Art Mystery Solved: Who Wrote on Edvard Munchâs âThe Screamâ?
The authorship of the tiny inscription, âCould only have been painted by a madman,â was disputed. Curators in Oslo say the artist definitely wrote it himself. (But why?)
Edvard Munchâs âThe Scream.âCredit.National Museum of Norway
By Nina Siegal
Feb. 21, 2021
Edvard Munchâs âThe Scream,â from 1893, is one of the worldâs most famous paintings, but for years art historians have mostly ignored a tiny inscription, written in pencil, at the upper left corner of its frame, reading: âCould only have been painted by a madman.â
Who wrote the sentence there? Some thought a disgruntled viewer might have vandalized the work while it was in a gallery; others imagined it was the artist himself who had jotted the enigmatic sentence. But then why?
arts
Published 22nd February 2021 Painted by a madman : Edvard Munch wrote a hidden message on The Scream
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 message Can only have been painted by a madman, scrawled and barely visible in the top left-hand corner of the painting, has been the subject of debate for decades and was widely believed to have been an act of vandalism by a viewer of the piece.
The painting being hung at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam in 2015. It has rarely been exhibited in recent years due to damage. Credit: BAS CZERWINSKI/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
Infrared scans have revealed Norwegian artist Edvard Munch was the author of hidden graffiti on his 1893 painting The Scream.
The inscription near the top left corner reads kan kun være malet af en gal mand , which translates from Danish as can only have been painted by a madman and was thought to have been later added by vandals.
Following years of speculation, the National Museum of Norway has confirmed that the small and barely visible sentence was actually by the artist himself in about 1895.
Munch made the inscription with a pencil after a medical student said The Scream was the work of a mentally disturbed individual.
'Painted By A Madman': Mysterious Message On 'The Scream' Was Written By Edvard Munch Himself, Experts Reveal news9.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from news9.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.