What does the Norwegian word " skrik " mean ?
In his diary in an entry headed , " Nice 22 January 1892 " , Munch described his inspiration for the image:This memory was later rendered by Munch as a poem , which he hand - painted onto the frame of the 1895 pastel version of the work:Among theories advanced to account for the reddish sky in the background is the artist 's memory of the effects of the powerful volcanic eruption of Krakatoa , which deeply tinted sunset skies red in parts of the Western hemisphere for months during 1883 and 1884 , about a decade before Munch painted " The Scream " .