Edvard Munch, The Scream (1895). (Click on image to enlarge). UPDATE: IT SOLD FOR A WORLD RECORD ART AUCTION PRICE OF $119,922,500.
IF public interest is anything to go by The Scream by Edvard Munch is about to generate headlines. It is the most expensively estimated lot in the May art auctions which get underway in New York next week. When Sotheby’s displayed the work in London earlier this month thousands of people queued in the street to see it. It was a reaction never before witnessed. There was very tight security (two other versions of the painting have been stolen from Norwegian museums). The ony one of four versions still in private hands is estimated at $80 million at Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern Art evening sale on May 2.
At Christie’s Yves Klein’s “FC 1” is estimated at $30-40 million, which would be a record for the artist. Other upcoming highlights include Double Elvis by Andy Warhol at Sotheby’s, Card Players, a Cezanne watercolour at Christie’s, Figure Writing reflected in a Mirror by Francis Bacon at Sotheby’s, Orange, Red and Yellow by Mark Rothko and No. 28 1951 by Jackson Pollock at Christie’s. Altogether there are 15 works valued at over $10 million at Christie’s and 11 at Sotheby’s.
See posts on antiquesandartireland.com for February 21, March 16, March 27 and April 5, 2012.