“THE SCREAM” Painting Sold At A Record $119.9M

“THE SCREAM” Painting Sold At A Record $119.9M

A version of Edvard Munch’s iconic painting, “The Scream” sold at Sotheby’s tonight for just under $120 million, The New York Times reports.  That's the highest price for a painting ever set by an auction house.

The image of a man holding his head and screaming under a streaked, blood-red sky is one of four versions by the Norwegian expressionist painter. The auctioned piece at Sotheby's is the only one left in private hands.


Created more than 100 years ago by Edvard Munch, an Norwegian painter, the nightmare vision of human suffering depicted in The Scream has haunted and captivated successive generations.


The 1895 artwork is a modern symbol of human anxiety and has become part of pop culture, "used by everyone from Warhol to Hollywood to cartoons to teacups and T-shirts," said Michael Frahm of the London-based art advisory service firm Frahm Ltd.


"Together with the Mona Lisa, it's the most famous and recognized image in art history," he added

A buzz swept through the room when the artwork was presented for auction as two guards stood watch on either side. Bidding started at $40 million with seven buyers jumping into the competition early.

The battle eventually boiled down to two phone bidders as the historic hammer price was finally achieved after more than 12 minutes.

The winning telephone bidder’s identity has remained a closely-guarded secret, but it is thought he or she probably comes from Asia or the Middle East.

Sotheby's said the pastel-on-board version of "The Scream" is the most colorful and vibrant of the four and the only version whose frame was hand-painted by the artist to include his poem, detailing the work's inspiration.

FRANK FRANKLIN II/AP

The seller was Norwegian Petter Olsen, whose father was a friend and patron of the artist.

He sold the piece through Sotheby's because he felt "the moment has come to offer the rest of the world the chance to own and appreciate this remarkable work."

The most expensive painting bought outside an auction is The Card Players by Paul Cézanne which changed hands last year for £156.9million in a private transaction.

Proceeds from the sale will go toward the establishment of a new museum, art center and hotel in Hvitsten, Norway, where Olsen's father and Munch were neighbors.

Do You Know?

The Scream has been the target of several high-profile art thefts.

On 22 February 1994, the same day as the opening of the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, four men broke into the National Gallery and stole its version of The Scream, leaving a note reading "Thanks for the poor security".

source: wikipedia

It was recovered several months later. The painting had been moved down to a second-story display as part of the Olympic festivities, and the presence of international media covering the games made the theft a sensation.

Another version of The Scream was stolen in 2004. On 22 August, during daylight hours, masked gunmen entered the Munch Museum in Oslo and stole two paintings: Scream and Munch's Madonna. A bystander photographed the    robbers as they escaped with the artwork to their car.