One of the world’s most iconic masterpieces, ‘The Scream’ by Edvard Munch, has sold for $119.9m, becoming the most expensive artwork ever sold at auction. The work, created in 1895, went under the hammer at Sotheby’s and was won by an anonymous telephone bidder after more than 10 minutes of tense bidding, starting at $40m. The sale beat the previous world record for the most expensive artwork sold at auction which was held by Pablo Picasso’s ‘Nude, Green Leaves and Bust’ sold at Christie’s for $106 million. The masterpiece was put on the market by Petter Olsen, a Norwegian businessman, whose family knew Munch and who have owned the portrait since the 1930s. There are four versions of ‘The Scream’ created by Munch, three of which are in museums. The version sold is considered the most sought-after of the four because it contains a poem about the work-written in the artist’s own hand-on the frame. ‘The Scream’ inspired tributes from other artists, including Andy Warhol. And it gave rise to the ‘Scream’ series of horror films.
