It is possibly the most iconic painting of all time. A screaming man pictured under a blood red sky. It is human anxiety made manifest in pastels on board and is one of four variations on the same theme by Norwegian expressionist painter Edvard Munch. Now, you can call it the most expensive painting ever auctioned. The only version of Edvard Munch’s The Scream in private hands was auctioned for a world record $119.9 million dollars at Sotheby’s in New York City yesterday.
The bidding started at $40 million and quickly boiled down to two bidders, both working over the phone. It took only 12 minutes for the price to exceed Picasso’s old record of $106 million dollars. The version of The Scream is unique because not only is it the most colorful version, it is also the only version in which Munch hand-painted the frame around the painting with the words of the poem that inspired the legendary work of art.
According to owner Petter Olsen, whose Norwegian businessman father was a patron of Munch, “the moment has come to offer the rest of the world the chance to own and appreciate this remarkable work. I have lived with this work all my life, and its power and energy have only increased with time.”
Olsen’s share of the $119.9 million dollars will be used to establish a new museum, art center, and hotel in Hvitsten, Norway, where Munch lived at the time he committed his famous scream to canvas.
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