Edvard Munch’s “The Scream” Sold for a Record $119.9 Million at Sotheby's

"The Scream" poster outside Sotheby's

Edvard Munch’s famed 1895 painting called “The Scream” was auctioned for $120 million at Sotheby's last night, becoming the world’s most expensive artwork ever to sell at auction. The work, a pastel on board, is one of four versions created by Edvard Munch; the other three are part of collections in Norwegian museums. This version of "The Scream" is considered to be the most vibrant. It was sold by Petter Olsen, a Norwegian businessman and shipping heir whose father was a friend, neighbor and patron of the artist. The unknown buyer bid over the telephone during the Impressionist and Modern Art Evening sale. The price surpassed the previous record, made two years ago at Christie’s in New York when Picasso’s “Nude, Green Leaves and Bust” brought $106.5 million.

Outside of Sotheby’s, demonstrators protesting the company’s longtime lockout of art handlers waved placards with the image of “The Scream” along with the motto, “Sotheby’s: Bad for Art” and "People Before Profit." The group is a mix of union members and Occupy Wall Street protesters. 

Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale at Sotheby's

Sotheby's is holding its Impressionist and Modern Art Evening sale tonight. The sale will be led by Edvard Munch’s "The Scream", an image that reflects the pulsating anguish of modern society. This painting is among the most recognizable images in the history of art. Executed in 1895, this work is one of four versions of the painting, and the only one still in private hands. Also on offer is a series of Modern masterpieces from the collection of Theodore J. Forstmann including a brilliant wartime portrait by Picasso inspired by his muse, Dora Maar, a monument to anti-painting by Joan Miro from 1931 and one of Chaim Soutine's most magnificent portraits,Le Chasseur de Chez Maxim's.

Sotheby's Expects to Sell Munch's "The Scream" For 80 Million or More

Giant poster of "The Scream" on display outside Sotheby's

Sotheby's New York will auction the only privately owned version of Edvard Munch's painting called "The Scream" on May 2 where it expects to sell for over $80 million, the highest pre-sale value the auctioneer has ever put on a work of art. "The Scream" is one of the most instantly recognizable images in art and popular culture, second only perhaps to Leonardo Da Vinci's "Mona Lisa". The 1895 work is owned by Norwegian businessman Petter Olsen, whose father Thomas was a friend, neighbor and patron of Munch, the auctioneer said on Tuesday. There are four versions of the famous depiction of an apparently screaming figure. The three others are part of Norwegian museum collections. The painting aims to to convey Munch's anxiety in the hills above Oslo and has been interpreted by many as the embodiment of modern-day anxiety and existential angst.