Art

"Can only have been painted by a madman."

Words by Edvard Munch in tiny letters in the most famous version of "The Scream," The Art Newspaper reports. Can we be sure that the artist wrote these words? Mai Britt Guleng, the curator of Old Masters and modern paintings at the National Museum of Norway, says yes. First, the handwriting matches up to other samples of Munch's handwriting. Second, the writing is tiny: “Had this been an act of vandalism by another person, the size of the letters would probably have been larger and the whole tex...
Tags: Art, Writing, Law, Munch, Edvard Munch, Reuters, Don, Kiki, Ann Althouse, Insanity, Mai Britt Guleng, Guleng, The Scream, Destruction Of Art, National Museum of Norway

Who Wrote A Mysterious Inscription On Munch’s The Scream?

Looks like the mystery’s been solved – and the writer was (drumroll) … the artist himself. “The text, ‘Could only have been painted by a madman,’ isn’t large enough for most people to notice, especially when it’s presented in the museum behind glass, Guleng said. To study it, the researchers needed to use infrared photography to make it more legible.” – The New York Times
Tags: Art, Visual, Guleng, 02.21.21