​​Text by communications advisor Alv Hågård Gustavsen

Munch's early images created outrage and debate in their day, about 120 years ago. The first time the inscription is mentioned was in connection with an exhibition in Copenhagen in 1904, eleven years after Munch painted The Scream in 1893. At that time a Danish art critic thought a member of the public had written it. It is easy to imagine an indignant viewer, when faced with The Scream, taking a pencil and expressing their opinion on both the artwork and its creator. But that was not the case.

New research at the National Museum reveals that the handwriting belonged to Edvard Munch himself. 

Mai Britt Guleng, curator at the National Museum, has worked extensively on Edvard Munch’s works. The Scream is one of several works that have been conserved and examined since the old National Gallery closed. Among other things, the painting was photographed using an infrared camera, making the writing clearly stand out from the painted background and thereby adding a new twist to the story.

There is no doubt that the inscription is Munch's. The handwriting itself and events which occurred wh en Munch exhibited the painting for the first time in Norway support this conclusion, says Guleng.

"You have to get quite close to see the inscription. We seldom find such inscriptions on paintings, particularly not on one of the world's most famous ones. Given that it's such an important work in the history of international art, the inscription has received remarkably little attention."