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The Scream sells for record $120m at auction The Scream sells for record $120m at auction
(about 1 hour later)
Edvard Munch's painting The Scream sold for a record $120m (£74m) at auction on Wednesday at Sotheby's in New York, far exceeding pre-sales estimates of about $80m. Edvard Munch's painting The Scream, one of the world's most recognisable works of art, sold for $120 million (£74m) at Sotheby's on Wednesday, setting a new record as the most expensive piece of art ever sold at auction.
The vibrant piece from 1895, the most famous art work in the world still in private hands, went under the hammer at Sotheby's impressionist and modern art auction, where clients and press packed the salesroom for the much-anticipated sale. The sale at Sotheby's Impressionist and Modern Art auction featured other works by Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali and Joan Miro, but Munch's vibrant piece was the centerpiece of the auction in a salesroom packed with collectors, bidders and the media.
Bidding started at about $50m for the work, one of four versions by the Scandinavian painter being sold by Norwegian businessman Petter Olsen, and lasted 15 minutes before an unnamed telephone bidder gave the final offer of $119,922,500, including commission. The sales room at Sotheby's erupted in applause and cheering. The vibrant pastel from 1895 was conservatively estimated to sell for about $80 million at Sotheby's, but two determined bidders drove the final price to $107 million, or $119,922,500 including commission, during a 15-minute bidding war.
The previous record for the most expensive work of art sold at auction had been held by Picasso's Nude, green leaves and bust, which went for $106.5m at Christie's two years ago. One of four versions by the Scandinavian painter, which was being sold by Norwegian businessman Petter Olsen, The Scream easily eclipsed the old auction record held by Picasso's Nude, Green Leaves and Bust, which went for $106.5 million at Christie's two years ago.
In recent decades The Scream has become a ubiquitous image appropriated for everything from coffee mugs to editorial cartoons. The sales room at Sotheby's erupted in applause and cheering when the hammer came down. The buyer, who won the auction via telephone bidding, was not identified by Sotheby's.
In recent decades The Scream, a picture of a person with hands pressed to head against a backdrop of swirling vibrant colours, has become a ubiquitous image, appropriated for everything from coffee mugs to editorial cartoons. For many mainstream art lovers, it is perhaps second in familiarity only to the Mona Lisa and is certainly among the best-known works of art still in private hands.
Three other images of The Scream, including two which were stolen and later recovered, are in museums in Norway.
Overall, the Sotheby's auction brought in $330.6 million and 80% of the lots on offer were sold. It was Sotheby's highest total ever for an Impressionist and Modern Art auction.
Picasso's Femme assise dans un fauteuil sold for $29.2 million, Miro's Tete humaine went under the hammer at $14.86 million and Dali's Printemps necrophilique was auctioned at $16.3 million. All those prices included sales commission.