You’ve Heard of “The Scream,” Now Get Ready for “The Ick”

A small Nebraska museum claims to have discovered previously unknown paintings by Norwegian expressionist Edvard Munch that greatly alter art history’s understanding of the enigmatic artist. 

“This stunning discovery demonstrates that Munch was not only the painter of ‘The Scream,’” a spokesperson for the Ripley Museum of American Art told Hyperallergic, “but also more paintings like ‘The Scream’ that aren’t ‘The Scream.’”

Much like Munch’s iconic painting, this suite of five “never-before-seen” works made around 1893 all depict the main figure on a bridge alongside a pair in the background. In this case, the central character displays a range of emotions, from happiness to anger and boredom. 

In “It’s Giving Serotonin,” for instance, the main figure appears to hold his hands to his cheeks in excitement, rather than fear. He has what seem to be “kawaii cheeks,” and he smiles widely in delight. 

In “The Ick,” on the other hand, the figure’s hands are at his side as he glares at the figures behind him with what we might call a modern-day “stank face.” 

In “Pressed,” meanwhile, he raises his hands in anger, his eyebrows furled and his mouth open and downturned, as if hurling insults at the figures behind him. 

The titles of these works, the aforementioned spokesperson told Hyperallergic, were chosen by an unnamed, unpaid college intern currently working as the museum’s registrar due to long-running budget issues.

This trove of paintings came to the museum by way of an unidentified descendant of Munch. The museum did not respond to inquiries about why a Norwegian painter’s heirs might be in a small town in Nebraska, nor to reports that the artist in fact had no children. 

While it is true that Munch often created multiple versions of the same artwork — two paintings and two original prints of “The Scream” are known to exist — these works are unusual in that they greatly expand the expressionist’s known stylistic repertoire. 

For instance, in Munch’s other explorations of the theme of sadness — including the stylistically similar “Sick Mood at Sunset, Despair” (1892) — the main figure typically turns away from other figures, his expression unreadable, often with one hand on his cheek. While “Does Everyone Lowkey Hate Me?” shares the blue palette of many of the artist’s works on the theme, his fingers are arranged with index fingers pointing toward each other, much like the modern-day “👉👈” emojis, a feature found in no other Munch painting nor any pre-21st-century work. 

In response to Hyperallergic’s repeated queries about the paintings’ authentication, the museum pointed us toward the art tech firm Signature Certification and Authentication Model (SCAM), which “verified” the paintings. The company’s website claims that it is a “best-in-class, world-leading proprietary data-enabled artificial intelligence software infrastructure that works in cultural heritage verticals.” 

When reached for comment, SCAM added: “The analysis conducted on these distinctive paintings provides fresh insight into the oeuvre of Edvard Munch.” The Munch Museum in Oslo, Norway, declined to comment.