Norwegian National Museum of Art “Undoubtedly by Munch”
Graffiti on Edvar Munch’s’Scream Courtesy of the National Gallery of Norway, AFP Yonhap News
The person who graffitied in Norwegian painter Edvar Munch’s masterpiece’The Scream’ turned out to be Munch himself.
According to the Associated Press on the 22nd (local time), the curator of the Norwegian National Museum of Art, Maibrit Gulen, said, “The writing is undoubtedly Munch’s own,” and “I compared the writing with Munch’s diary and letter.” .
In the upper left corner of the scream, completed in 1893, the words “Can only be drawn by crazy people” are written in pencil. This graffiti, too small to be seen, was first discovered in 1904 by a Danish art critic.
This text was added after Munch finished the painting, but it remained a mystery of who wrote it for a long time.
When this work was first released, it aroused public speculation about Munch’s mental state. At a debate attended by Munch, a medical student questioned Munch’s mental health, claiming that his work proved he was not healthy.
Edvar Munch’s’Scream’. Courtesy of the National Gallery of Norway, AFP Yonhap News
Munch was deeply wounded by such accusations, and repeatedly mentioned the incident in letters and diaries. Gouleng said of the graffiti, “It is possible that Munch added this sentence based on his judgment on his work in 1895, when he first exhibited the painting. Munch’s father and sister both suffered from depression, and Munch was eventually hospitalized in 1908 due to a nervous breakdown.
Meanwhile, the Norwegian National Museum was temporarily closed in 2019 for moving and will reopen in Oslo in 2022. The scream of the mystery solved is also revealed to the public again.
Reporter Ji-ro Yoon
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