{"id":3663,"date":"2012-05-03T07:23:28","date_gmt":"2012-05-03T07:23:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artcorner.com\/?p=3663"},"modified":"2012-05-03T07:23:28","modified_gmt":"2012-05-03T07:23:28","slug":"munch-the-scream-breaks-auction-record-with-119-9-million","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.overstockart.com\/blog\/munch-the-scream-breaks-auction-record-with-119-9-million\/","title":{"rendered":"Munch \u2018The Scream\u2019 Breaks Auction Record with $119.9 Million"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Munch<\/a>It took 12 nail-biting minutes and five eager bidders for Edvard Munch\u2019s famed 1895 pastel of \u201cThe Scream<\/a>\u201d to sell for $119.9 million, becoming the world\u2019s most expensive work of art ever to sell at auction.<\/p>\n

Bidders could be heard speaking Chinese and English (and, some said, Norwegian), but the mystery winner made the winning bid over the phone.<\/p>\n

Gasps could be heard as the bidding climbed higher and higher, until there was a pause at $99 million, prompting Tobias Meyer, the evening\u2019s auctioneer, to smile and say, \u201cI have all the time in the world.\u201d When $100 million was bid, the audience began to applaud.<\/p>\n

The price eclipsed the previous record, made two years ago at Christie\u2019s in New York when Picasso\u2019s \u201cNude, Green Leaves and Bust\u201d brought $106.5 million.<\/p>\n

There were other notable pieces in the evening sale at Sotheby’s, but it was the record price for \u201cThe Scream\u201d that captured everyone\u2019s imagination. As soon as the hammer fell, rumors began circulating about who the buyer could be. Among the names floated were the financier Leonard Blavatnik, the Microsoft tycoon Paul Allen and members of the Qatari royal family.<\/p>\n

While some were surprised at the price, one Munch enthusiast was not: \u201cIt\u2019s nice to see the centrality of Norway in the mainstream of western culture,\u201d said Ivor Braka, a London dealer. \u201cThe scream is more than a painting, it\u2019s a symbol of psychology as it anticipates the 20th-century traumas of mankind.\u201d<\/p>\n