Munch The Scream: The Krakatoa Sky, Four Versions, and the Hidden Inscription Confirmed in 2021

Last updated: May 2026 · By Stanislav Arnautov · Berlin

Edvard Munch (Løten, Norway, 1863 – Oslo, 1944) created the first version of The Scream (Skrik) in 1893, when he was 29–30 years old. The most celebrated version — a pastel on cardboard, 91 × 73.5 cm — sold at Sotheby's New York in May 2012 for $119.9 million, then the highest price achieved for any work at public auction. The National Museum Norway holds the primary oil/tempera version (1893) and the primary pastel (1895). DeckArts Berlin reproduces The Scream on Grade-A Canadian maple from approximately $140, shipping from Berlin.

The Krakatoa Sky: Why the Background Is Blood Red

The blood-red sky in The Scream is not a symbolic invention but a recorded atmospheric observation. The volcano Krakatoa (Krakatau), located in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra, erupted catastrophically on 26–27 August 1883 — the most violent volcanic eruption in recorded history at the time. The eruption ejected approximately 21 cubic kilometres of volcanic rock and ash, distributed fine particles into the upper stratosphere (above 25 km altitude), where they circulated globally for several years, creating optical phenomena including unusually vivid red, orange, and purple sunsets and afterglows across the Northern Hemisphere.

The Krakatoa ash layer in the stratosphere above Scandinavia persisted from late 1883 until approximately 1886–88, with residual effects possibly persisting until the early 1890s. The Norwegian sky over Oslo (then Christiania) in the period 1883–93 is documented in multiple observer accounts as producing unusually vivid red afterglows — blood-red and orange skies that were specifically attributed to the Krakatoa eruption by contemporary observers.

Munch's diary entry for the date of the experience described in The Scream (undated, but believed to be from 1892, recorded in his diary in a form that was later used as the caption for the lithograph version) describes: "I was walking along the road with friends — the sun was setting — suddenly the sky turned blood red — I paused, feeling exhausted, and leaned on the fence — there was blood and tongues of fire above the blue-black fjord and the city — my friends walked on, and I stood there trembling with anxiety — and I sensed an endless scream passing through nature."

The specific colour — "blood red," "blood and tongues of fire" — is consistent with the documented Krakatoa afterglow phenomenon in Scandinavia. The 2004 paper by Texas State University professor Donald Olson in Sky & Telescope magazine analysed the meteorological and atmospheric records from Oslo in 1883–94 and concluded that the specific sky depicted in The Scream most closely matches documented Krakatoa afterglow observations from Oslo in January 1893.

Four Versions: Pastel, Casein Paint, Oil, Lithograph

Munch made four distinct versions of The Scream in different media:

Version 1 (1893, National Museum Norway): Casein paint and pastel on cardboard, 91 × 73.5 cm. This is the version most frequently reproduced in art history publications. The primary version; Munch worked in multiple media simultaneously and the 1893 casein/pastel is generally considered the original realisation of the composition.

Version 2 (1893, Munch Museum Oslo): Tempera and oil on cardboard, 83.5 × 66 cm. Held at the Munch Museum (Munchmuseet) in Oslo. Stolen in August 2004 along with Madonna (Munch) in an armed robbery at the Munch Museum; recovered in August 2006. The theft generated significant international media attention; the recovered version shows some deterioration from the two-year period in unknown storage conditions.

Version 3 (1895, private collection): Pastel on cardboard, 79 × 59 cm. Sold at Sotheby's New York on 2 May 2012 for $119.9 million to an anonymous buyer. Previously held by Norwegian businessman Petter Olsen; his father Thomas Olsen had been a close friend of Munch's and received several works directly from the artist. This is the version with the confirmed hidden inscription (see below).

Version 4 (1895, multiple impressions): Lithograph. Munch made the lithograph as a print medium version to distribute the composition more widely; multiple impressions were produced. The lithographic version is the source for many 20th-century mass reproductions.

The Hidden Inscription Confirmed 2021

In February 2021, the National Museum of Norway announced the results of infrared analysis of the primary 1893 version (National Museum), confirming the presence and authorship of a handwritten inscription in pencil at the upper left corner of the composition: "Kan kun være malet af en gal mand" — "Can only have been painted by a madman" — in Norwegian.

The inscription had been known since at least the 1900s but its authorship was disputed: some scholars attributed it to a critic or hostile viewer who had written it in protest, while others believed Munch had written it himself. The 2021 infrared analysis — conducted by Senior Researcher Mai Britt Guleng of the National Museum using infrared reflectography, which allows the examination of pencil marks beneath layers of paint and surface coating — confirmed that the handwriting matches Munch's own handwriting in his diaries and letters. Munch wrote "Can only have been painted by a madman" on his own painting.

The biographical context of the inscription: Munch wrote it after The Scream was exhibited in Berlin in 1892 and provoked hostility and mockery from some critics and observers. The inscription is Munch's pre-emptive adoption of the hostile verdict — writing the critic's dismissal onto the painting as a permanent caption, turning the dismissal into part of the work's content. The inscription has been in the painting since approximately 1895–1900, invisible to the naked eye, confirmed by infrared analysis 125 years later.

$119.9 Million at Sotheby's 2012

The 1895 pastel version of The Scream sold at Sotheby's New York Impressionist & Modern Art evening sale on 2 May 2012 for $119.9 million (including buyer's premium), making it at the time the most expensive work ever sold at public auction — exceeding the previous record of $106.5 million set by Giacometti's L'Homme qui marche I (1961) at Sotheby's London in 2010. The buyer was not publicly identified; Sotheby's confirmed the buyer was a private collector.

The work had been estimated at $80 million (low estimate) before the sale. The final price of $119.9 million represented a 50% premium over the low estimate and was achieved after 12 minutes of bidding involving five bidders. The consignor was Petter Olsen, the Norwegian businessman whose father Thomas Olsen had been a close friend of Munch.

The $119.9 million price in 2012 has a 2026 purchasing power equivalent of approximately $155–165 million, making it still among the highest prices achieved for any artwork at public auction in real terms.

Munch's Diary: What the Original Entry Says

The diary entry that describes the experience depicted in The Scream exists in Munch's diary (the undated entry believed to be from 1892) and in the version he used as the caption for the lithograph print. The most complete version, from the lithograph caption and the diary (slightly edited for the lithograph):

"I was walking along the road with friends. The sun was setting. Suddenly the sky turned blood red. I paused, feeling exhausted, and leaned on the fence. There was blood and tongues of fire above the blue-black fjord and the city. My friends walked on, and I stood there trembling with anxiety, and I sensed an endless scream passing through nature."

The key phrase: "an endless scream passing through nature" — the scream is not the figure's scream but nature's, experienced by the figure as a resonant anxiety transmitted through the landscape. The Scream depicts the moment of receiving the scream, not of producing it. The figure is trembling at the edge of the bridge, having stopped while friends walked on, hearing/feeling the scream of nature passing through the blood-red Krakatoa sky.

The Figure: Munch or Universal Anxiety?

The androgynous skull-like figure at the centre of The Scream is generally interpreted as Munch himself — the experience described in the diary is a first-person experience, and the figure's posture (leaning on the fence, friends walking on ahead, isolated at the composition's centre) matches the diary's description. However, the figure's deliberately non-specific face (no gender, no age, no specific features beyond the elongated skull and the open mouth) has led to its widespread adoption as a universal symbol of anxiety rather than a portrait of Munch specifically.

The universalisation of the Scream figure is documented in its cultural proliferation: it has become the most widely reproduced expression of anxiety in visual culture, appearing in film (Home Alone, 1990), merchandise, emoji, memes, and political commentary across cultures and languages. The Scream face communicates "anxiety" independently of any knowledge of Munch or the Krakatoa sky. This cultural ubiquity is the specific challenge for the dark academia installation: the Scream is so widely recognised as a pop-culture anxiety symbol that its original specific meaning (the Krakatoa sky, 1893, the boundary between psychological realism and Expressionism) can be obscured. The DeckArts installation guide recommends pairing the Scream with its original biographical context — the Krakatoa sky, the four versions, the hidden inscription, the $119.9 million sale — to restore the specific historical depth that makes it dark academia rather than merely decorative.

The Scream for Dark Academia and Navy Walls

Deep navy wall: The Scream single (~$140) on deep navy creates the most dramatically beautiful installation: the orange-red Krakatoa sky advances from the cool dark at maximum warm-cool contrast (warm orange-red against cool navy), while the dark fjord and bridge recede into the navy. For a living room, study, or dark academia bedroom on deep navy: The Scream single above the sofa or the desk, or beside the bed at close viewing range. Warm LED 2700K.

Warm charcoal wall: The Scream on warm charcoal creates the most compositionally clear installation: the neutral dark provides maximum visual separation for every element of the composition — the orange-red sky, the dark blue fjord, the dark bridge, the pale figure, the dark friends walking away. For a contemporary dark study or living room that wants full compositional clarity rather than the dramatic warm-cool contrast of navy.

Dark academia study: The Scream single (~$140) above or facing a desk on forest green or warm charcoal. Biographical context on a visible note or gift card: "Krakatoa erupted in 1883. The ash reached Scandinavia and stayed in the sky for ten years. Munch saw it in 1892 and heard nature scream. He wrote 'Can only have been painted by a madman' on the painting. It sold for $119.9 million in 2012."

FAQ

Why is the sky in The Scream red?

The blood-red sky in Munch's The Scream (c.1893) is based on a real atmospheric phenomenon: the volcanic ash from the catastrophic Krakatoa eruption of August 1883, which distributed fine particles in the stratosphere that caused vivid blood-red and orange sunsets across the Northern Hemisphere for approximately 10 years. Norwegian observer accounts from Oslo in 1883–93 document unusually vivid red afterglows specifically attributed to Krakatoa. Professor Donald Olson (Texas State University) concluded in a 2004 Sky & Telescope analysis that the sky in The Scream most closely matches documented Krakatoa afterglow observations from Oslo in January 1893. DeckArts from ~$140.

How many versions of The Scream are there?

Four: Version 1 (1893, casein paint and pastel on cardboard, National Museum Norway); Version 2 (1893, tempera and oil on cardboard, Munch Museum Oslo — stolen 2004, recovered 2006); Version 3 (1895, pastel on cardboard, private collection — sold $119.9M Sotheby's 2012); Version 4 (1895, lithograph, multiple impressions). DeckArts from ~$140.

What does the hidden inscription on The Scream say?

"Kan kun være malet af en gal mand" — Norwegian for "Can only have been painted by a madman." Confirmed to be in Munch's own handwriting by infrared reflectography analysis published by the National Museum of Norway in February 2021. Munch wrote it on the 1893 primary version after the Berlin 1892 exhibition provoked hostile criticism. He pre-emptively adopted the critic's dismissal as the painting's own caption, making the hostile verdict part of the work's content. DeckArts from ~$140.

Article Summary

Munch (Løten 1863 – Oslo 1944) created The Scream (Skrik) in 1893, age 29–30. Krakatoa sky: Krakatoa erupted 26–27 August 1883, distributed stratospheric ash globally, created blood-red afterglows in Scandinavia for ~10 years; Munch's diary (c.1892): "suddenly the sky turned blood red... I sensed an endless scream passing through nature"; Texas State University professor Donald Olson concluded in 2004 that the sky matches documented Oslo Krakatoa afterglow observations January 1893. Four versions: 1. 1893 casein/pastel on cardboard National Museum Norway; 2. 1893 tempera/oil Munch Museum Oslo (stolen August 2004 armed robbery, recovered August 2006); 3. 1895 pastel private collection ($119.9M Sotheby's NY 2 May 2012, then world record, anonymous buyer; previously Thomas Olsen family, close friends of Munch); 4. 1895 lithograph. Hidden inscription: "Can only have been painted by a madman" — Munch's own handwriting confirmed by infrared reflectography National Museum Norway February 2021; written after Berlin 1892 exhibition hostile criticism. Figure: Munch himself (first-person diary) but universalised (no specific features); most widely reproduced anxiety symbol in visual culture. Installations: deep navy (orange-red on cool dark, most dramatic); warm charcoal (maximum compositional clarity); dark academia desk (biographical context). DeckArts from ~$140. Canadian maple. UV archival 100+ years. Berlin. 30-day return.

About the Author

Stanislav Arnautov is the founder of DeckArts and a creative director from Ukraine based in Berlin.