What phrase did Edvard Munch inscribe on the frame of the 1893 version of "The Scream"?
Answer
Could only have been painted by a madman
The phrase Edvard Munch inscribed on the frame of the 1893 version of “The Scream” was “Could only have been painted by a madman.”
The pencil inscription appears in the upper-left corner of the version now held by Norway’s National Museum. It is written in Norwegian as “Kan kun være malet af en gal Mand!” and is small enough to be difficult to see without close examination.
For years, scholars thought the words were written by a critic or visitor reacting to the painting. Infrared photography and handwriting analysis later showed that Munch himself added the inscription. He may have written it after the work received harsh criticism when exhibited in Norway in 1895.
The phrase is often confused with Munch’s description of an “infinite scream” passing through nature. That wording belongs to his account of the painting’s inspiration, not to the inscription on its frame.