Munch’s The Scream: Four Versions, the Krakatoa Sky, the Hidden Inscription, and the $119.9 Million Record

Last updated: May 2026 · By Stanislav Arnautov · Berlin

Edvard Munch (1863–1944) made The Scream (Skrik) in four versions between 1893 and 1910. The most celebrated version (tempera and casein on cardboard, 91 × 73.5 cm, 1893) is in the Nasjonalmuseet in Oslo. The sky in the painting is not a psychological expressionist invention: it is the documented atmospheric effect of the 1883 Krakatoa eruption, confirmed in 2004 by atmospheric scientists at Texas A&M University. A hidden inscription on the frame was confirmed by infrared analysis in 2021. DeckArts Berlin from ~$140. View The Scream at DeckArts →

The Four Versions: Which One Is The Scream?

Munch made four versions of The Scream, which creates significant confusion about which version is “the” Scream:

Version 1 (1893, tempera and casein on cardboard, 91 × 73.5 cm): Nasjonalmuseet (National Museum), Oslo. This is the most celebrated version — the tempera-and-casein original with the most vivid and most saturated orange-red sky. This is the version most commonly reproduced and the one that set the $119.9M auction record in 2012 (see below; however, the auction version was not this one but the pastel version). The Nasjonalmuseet holds this version as part of its permanent collection of Norwegian art; the museum opened in a new building in 2022 and the Scream is one of its primary works.

Version 2 (1893, pastel on cardboard, 79 × 59 cm): Munch Museum, Oslo. This version is slightly smaller and in a different medium (pastel rather than tempera); its colours are more subdued than the tempera version but the composition is essentially identical. This is the version that was stolen from the Munch Museum in August 2004 and recovered in August 2006. It was also the version sold at Sotheby’s in May 2012 for $119.9 million.

Version 3 (1895, pastel on cardboard): Private collection. Made two years after the 1893 versions; this is the most graphically simplified of the four. It was sold at Sotheby’s New York in 1995 for $12 million (then a record for works on paper).

Version 4 (1910, tempera on cardboard, 83 × 66 cm): Munch Museum, Oslo. The latest version, made 17 years after the original. The sky is darker and less saturated than the 1893 version; the figure’s expression is less specific. This version was stolen alongside the Version 2 pastel in the 2004 Munch Museum theft and was recovered in the same operation.

Full museum documentation: Nasjonalmuseet collection page for The Scream; Munch Museum Oslo.

The Krakatoa Sky: The Scientific Explanation

The most common interpretation of The Scream’s sky — that the red-orange sunset is a psychological expressionist invention, a projection of Munch’s inner emotional state onto the external landscape — is scientifically incorrect. The sky in The Scream is a documented atmospheric phenomenon: the aftermath of the 1883 Krakatoa volcanic eruption.

Krakatoa (Krakatau) erupted on 26–27 August 1883 in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra. The eruption was one of the most powerful volcanic events in recorded history: it ejected approximately 25 cubic kilometres of rock and ash into the atmosphere, killed approximately 36,000 people in the subsequent tsunamis, and was heard approximately 4,800 km away (as far as Australia and the island of Rodrigues near Mauritius). The eruption injected enormous quantities of sulphur dioxide into the stratosphere, where it combined with water vapour to form sulphuric acid aerosols that circled the globe for approximately two years.

The sulphuric acid aerosols in the stratosphere scattered sunlight in a way that produced intense red and orange sunsets globally for approximately 18 months after the eruption — including in Norway, where Munch was living in Oslo (then Christiania). The specific red-orange sky that Munch depicted in The Scream corresponds to the documented atmospheric effects of the Krakatoa aerosol cloud as observed in Norway in 1883–1884.

The confirmation: in 2004, atmospheric scientists Alistair Fraser (Pennsylvania State University) and Paal Brekke (Norwegian Space Centre) published an analysis in Sky & Telescope magazine confirming that the specific hues and the undulating cloud forms in The Scream’s sky are consistent with the documented visual appearance of mother-of-pearl clouds (nacreous clouds) and enhanced sunsets produced by volcanic aerosols. The Guardian covered the scientific confirmation in 2004. The Texas A&M University’s atmospheric science department subsequently confirmed the finding. The sky was not invented; it was observed and recorded.

The Hidden Inscription: Confirmed by Infrared in 2021

The Scream’s frame (of the 1893 Nasjonalmuseet version) carries a handwritten inscription in pencil: “Kan kun være malet af en gal Mand!” (Danish/Norwegian: “Can only have been painted by a madman!”). This inscription was long known but its authorship was disputed: was it written by Munch himself as a self-deprecating comment, or by an unidentified hostile critic?

In 2021, the Nasjonalmuseet published the results of infrared analysis of the inscription. The infrared analysis confirmed that the handwriting of the inscription is consistent with Munch’s own handwriting in documented examples. The Nasjonalmuseet’s art historian Mai Britt Guleng concluded that the inscription was written by Munch himself, probably in 1895 after the painting had received hostile critical reception at a student art exhibition in Oslo. The full results were covered by The Guardian in February 2021.

The biographical significance: Munch wrote “Can only have been painted by a madman” on the frame of his own painting, responding to critics who had implied exactly this. The self-description is both a direct response to hostile criticism and a self-conscious engagement with the cultural trope of the mentally unstable artist — a trope that Munch both embodied and rejected throughout his life.

$119.9 Million: The 2012 Auction Record

On 2 May 2012, the 1895 pastel version of The Scream was sold at Sotheby’s New York for $119,922,500 — then the highest price ever achieved at auction for any work of art. The buyer was not publicly identified at the time of the sale (later reported to be Leon Black, the American private equity financier). The sale surpassed the previous auction record ($106.5 million for Picasso’s Nude, Green Leaves and Bust in 2010).

The version sold was the 1895 pastel version (private collection), not the 1893 tempera version (Nasjonalmuseet Oslo) or the pastel version in the Munch Museum. The seller was the estate of Petter Olsen, whose father Thomas Olsen was a friend of Munch’s and had purchased the work from Munch’s estate. The Scream’s $119.9M remains the highest price ever achieved at auction for a Scandinavian artwork. The Guardian’s auction coverage documents the sale.

The DeckArts reproduction at ~$140 puts a work whose private version sold for $119.9M on your wall at a ratio of approximately 856,000:1. This is the second most extreme reproduction-to-original value ratio in the DeckArts range, after the Pearl Earring (2 guilders in 1902, estimated €200–400M today).

Munch’s Biography: The Illness, the Art, the 80 Years

Edvard Munch was born on 12 December 1863 in Løten, Norway, and died on 23 January 1944 in Ekely near Oslo, aged 80. He was one of the longest-lived major artists of his era — a biographical fact that sits in specific tension with The Scream’s image of overwhelming anxiety and the critical reception that associated him with mental illness throughout his career.

Munch’s early life was marked by loss: his mother died of tuberculosis when he was five; his sister Sophie died of tuberculosis when he was fourteen and he was sixteen; his father was a devoutly religious man whose faith became increasingly intense after his wife’s death. Munch wrote in his diary: “Illness, insanity, and death were the black angels that kept watch over my cradle and accompanied me all my life.”

Munch experienced significant mental health difficulties throughout his life, including a major crisis in 1908–1909 that required an eight-month hospitalisation at Dr Daniel Jacobson’s clinic in Copenhagen. After his hospitalisation, Munch’s work changed significantly: his later paintings are generally warmer, more naturalistic, and less expressionistically distorted than his celebrated works of the 1890s–1900s. He spent the final 28 years of his life at his Ekely estate near Oslo, painting, gardening, and working in relative seclusion.

Munch lived through two world wars. During the German occupation of Norway (1940–1945), his work was confiscated from German museums as “degenerate art” (entartete Kunst) — the same label the Nazi regime applied to Expressionist, Cubist, and Surrealist art. He died in January 1944, eight months before Norway’s liberation. His entire estate — approximately 1,000 paintings, 4,500 drawings, 15,400 prints, 6 sculptures, and extensive documentary materials — was bequeathed to the city of Oslo, forming the founding collection of the Munch Museum.

The Diary Entry: What Munch Actually Experienced

Munch documented the specific experience that produced The Scream in his diary. The diary entry (January 22, 1892, Oslo): “I was walking along the road with friends when the sun was setting — suddenly the sky turned blood-red. I stopped and leaned against the fence, feeling unspeakably tired. Tongues of fire and blood stretched over the bluish black fjord. My friends walked on, and I stood there trembling with anxiety — and I sensed an infinite scream passing through nature.”

The specific details: the sun setting, the sky turning blood-red — this is the Krakatoa-enhanced sunset; the scientific explanation and the diary account are consistent. The friends walking on while he stopped — the specific social isolation at the moment of overwhelming: the experience is not shared; the friends do not stop. The “unprecedented tiredness” (usigelig træt) — the exhaustion that precedes the anxiety. The “infinite scream passing through nature” — the overwhelming is not internal to Munch; it is in nature, passing through him. He is the membrane through which the scream passes, not its source.

This specific qualification — the scream is in nature, not in Munch — is the most important biographical detail about The Scream for understanding it as a domestic art object. The painting is not a self-portrait of mental illness; it is a record of a specific sensory and emotional event (a volcanic sunset, experienced alone by a man whose friends walked on) that overwhelmed the boundary between inner experience and outer nature. Munch survived this event, painted it, and lived to 80.

The Scream on a Skateboard Deck: Dark Academia and Beyond

The DeckArts Edvard Munch The Scream single deck (~$140) is the most emotionally direct biographical statement in the range — not the most beautiful, not the most formally composed, but the most immediately recognisable as a specific emotional experience and the most specific as a biographical statement about surviving that experience.

On warm white under 2700K warm LED: The Krakatoa orange-red sky advances as the room’s warm primary chromatic event from the warm white neutral ground. The figure’s cool blue-grey ground (the bridge and the fjord) provides the cool contrast for the warm sky’s advance. The Scream’s specific warm-cool chromatic structure (warm sky from cool water and bridge) performs on warm white as a bold warm event in a neutral field.

On near-black or warm charcoal: The most confrontational installation. The orange-red sky advances from absolute dark at maximum warm luminosity. The figure’s distorted form emerges from the combined dark of the background and the wall. The most emotionally intense The Scream installation. For a dark academia study that acknowledges the specific condition of intellectual overwhelm as real and documented.

The Dark Academia Paralysis-Recovery Programme: Melencolia I (creative paralysis) + Friedrich Wanderer (contemplative recovery) + Munch The Scream (the overwhelming before both). Three Northern European responses to the condition of intellectual and creative practice: the stuck (1514), the composed (c.1818), the overwhelmed (1893). Three centuries, three positions, one wall.

Edvard Munch The Scream — Single Deck (~$140)

Four versions · Krakatoa sky confirmed 2004 · hidden inscription 2021 · $119.9M auction 2012 · Munch lived to 80 · UV archival 100+ years · Canadian maple

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Room-by-Room Installation Guide

Dark academia study (facing desk or primary wall): Single deck (~$140) on warm white or warm charcoal at 125–145 cm centre (facing desk, seated eye level) or 155–165 cm (primary wall). As part of the Dark Academia Paralysis-Recovery Programme: The Scream (1893) + Melencolia I (1514) + Wanderer (c.1818). The three Northern European positions: overwhelmed, stuck, composedly proceeding. Forest green or warm charcoal wall. See: Dark Academia Room Decor Ideas 2026.

Home gym facing rest pause position: Single deck (~$140) on warm white or warm charcoal at 155–165 cm centre facing the training position. The overwhelming that Munch survived at 28 (born 1863, diary entry 1892): the biographical argument that the overwhelming is real and is survivable. See: Wall Art for a Home Gym 2026.

Staircase (Dark Academia Ascent): Single deck (~$140) on forest green as part of the staircase sequence. The Scream as Deck 1 at the staircase bottom: the overwhelming at the entrance, before the ascent. The ascent takes you through the civic (Night Watch), the paralysis (Melencolia I), and the composed contemplation (Wanderer) at the landing. See: Wall Art Ideas for a Staircase 2026.

FAQ

Why is The Scream’s sky orange-red?

The sky in The Scream is not a psychological expressionist invention — it is the documented atmospheric aftermath of the 1883 Krakatoa volcanic eruption. Krakatoa ejected approximately 25 cubic kilometres of material into the stratosphere, forming sulphuric acid aerosols that circled the globe for approximately 18 months, producing intense red and orange sunsets worldwide including in Oslo. Atmospheric scientists confirmed this in 2004. Munch’s own diary describes the experience: “suddenly the sky turned blood-red” during a walk on January 22, 1892. The sky was real. The Guardian’s 2004 coverage. DeckArts from ~$140.

How many versions of The Scream are there?

Four: Version 1 (1893, tempera and casein, Nasjonalmuseet Oslo — the most celebrated); Version 2 (1893, pastel, Munch Museum Oslo — stolen 2004, recovered 2006, sold 2012 for $119.9M); Version 3 (1895, pastel, private collection — sold 1995 for $12M); Version 4 (1910, tempera, Munch Museum Oslo — also stolen 2004, recovered 2006). Nasjonalmuseet Oslo. DeckArts from ~$140.

What does the hidden inscription on The Scream say?

“Kan kun være malet af en gal Mand!” (Danish/Norwegian: “Can only have been painted by a madman!”). Written in pencil on the frame of the 1893 Nasjonalmuseet version. In 2021, infrared analysis by the Nasjonalmuseet confirmed the handwriting is consistent with Munch’s own — it was written by Munch himself, probably in 1895 after hostile critical reception. The Guardian February 2021. DeckArts from ~$140.

Related Guides

• Munch The Scream: Complete Art History Guide
• Dark Academia Room Decor Ideas 2026
• Wall Art for a Home Gym 2026: Biography, Not Decoration
• Dürer Melencolia I: 512 Years of Creative Paralysis
• Friedrich Wanderer: The Kantian Recovery

Article Summary

Munch The Scream expanded: Skrik, four versions. V1 1893 tempera casein on cardboard 91×73.5 cm Nasjonalmuseet Oslo (most celebrated, most reproduced, most saturated sky). V2 1893 pastel 79×59 cm Munch Museum Oslo (stolen August 2004 recovered August 2006; sold Sotheby’s May 2012 $119,922,500 then world auction record, buyer initially anonymous later Leon Black private equity). V3 1895 pastel private collection (sold Sotheby’s NY 1995 $12M then record for works on paper). V4 1910 tempera 83×66 cm Munch Museum Oslo (also stolen 2004, recovered 2006; darker less saturated sky). Nasjonalmuseet + Munch Museum Oslo. Krakatoa sky: eruption 26–27 August 1883 Sunda Strait (25 km³ material ejected, 36,000 deaths in tsunamis, heard 4,800 km away); sulphur dioxide + stratospheric water vapour = sulphuric acid aerosols circling globe ~18 months; enhanced red-orange sunsets worldwide including Oslo 1883–1884; confirmed 2004 atmospheric scientists Fraser (Penn State) + Brekke (Norwegian Space Centre) in Sky & Telescope; Texas A&M atmospheric science subsequent confirmation; Guardian 2004 coverage. Diary entry: January 22 1892 Oslo (“sun was setting — suddenly sky turned blood-red”; “usigelig træt” = unspeakably tired; “tongues of fire and blood over the bluish black fjord”; “friends walked on, I stood trembling with anxiety”; “an infinite scream passing through nature” — scream IN nature not internal to Munch = the overwhelming is external, he is the membrane). Hidden inscription: frame of 1893 Nasjonalmuseet version; pencil inscription “Kan kun være malet af en gal Mand!” (Danish/Norwegian: “Can only have been painted by a madman!”); authorship disputed; 2021 Nasjonalmuseet infrared analysis confirmed handwriting consistent with Munch’s own (art historian Mai Britt Guleng); probably written 1895 after hostile reception at student art exhibition Oslo; Guardian February 2021. $119.9M: Sotheby’s New York 2 May 2012; V3 1895 pastel; sold by estate of Petter Olsen (father Thomas Olsen = friend of Munch’s, purchased from Munch’s estate); surpassed Picasso Nude Green Leaves Bust $106.5M 2010; highest auction price ever Scandinavian artwork; DeckArts ~$140 = ratio ~856,000:1. Munch biography: born 12 December 1863 Løten Norway, died 23 January 1944 Ekely near Oslo aged 80; mother died TB age 5; sister Sophie died TB age 14 (Munch 14); father devoutly religious; “Illness insanity death the black angels of my cradle”; 1908–1909 crisis 8-month hospitalisation Jacobson clinic Copenhagen; later paintings warmer less distorted; final 28 years Ekely estate near Oslo (painting/gardening/seclusion); two world wars; work confiscated by Nazis as entartete Kunst; died January 1944 (8 months before liberation); estate ~1,000 paintings + 4,500 drawings + 15,400 prints + 6 sculptures → bequeathed to Oslo = founding Munch Museum collection. On deck: warm white (Krakatoa orange-red sky as room’s warm primary chromatic event from warm neutral, figure’s cool blue-grey bridge provides contrast); near-black/charcoal (maximum confrontational, orange-red from absolute dark, most intense installation); Dark Academia Paralysis-Recovery Programme (Scream + Melencolia I + Wanderer = overwhelmed/stuck/composedly proceeding, three centuries three Northern European positions). 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.