Posted on 05/02/2012 7:00:17 PM PDT by Hojczyk
One of the art world's most recognizable images — Edvard Munch's "The Scream" — sold Wednesday for a record $119,922,500 at auction in New York City.
The 1895 artwork — a modern symbol of human anxiety — was sold at Sotheby's. The buyer's name was not released.
The previous record for an artwork sold at auction was $106.5 million for Picasso's "Nude, Green Leaves, and Bust," sold by Christie's in 2010.
The image 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."
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 record price includes the buyer's premium, an additional amount the buyer pays the auction house.
"If you look at the billionaires, there are only so many private islands they can buy, private jets, private yachts. There's only one Scream," said Sue Prideaux, who wrote a book about Munch and was in the room during the auction.
Munch's 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
Dang, I was outbid by just $119,922,250.
You bastard...I was out at 100mm even!
Sooo, you were the one who drove the price up...
“The buyer’s name was not released.” How many folks have 100 million to spend on a painting?
Oh yeah! This will look awesome next to my “Elvis Presley on Black Velvet.”
And to think that 47 years ago I had an occasion to buy it for pennies ($51 in today’s dollars.)
.
11.
spending 100 million on that picture is God’s way of saying ....you have too much money....That painting sucks big time...
Looks like something painted by a five year old.
One potential buyer was quoted as saying that he'd be content with selling all of his other artwork, just to be able to sit in a room and look at this painting for hours on end. Don't know why this painting evokes such sentiments, but it's an interesting piece of artwork.
*Sigh*
About 1982 I was riding around far north Austin on a motorcycle.
I came across an abandoned gas station and a guy in a van selling paintings on black velvet.
I found the Holy Grail of black velvet paintings: Elvis' Last Supper. A copy of the DaVinci fresco, but with Elvis in white sequined jump suit in the place of Christ.
I didn't just love it. I needed it with every ounce of my very being.
I didn't have bungee cords and it was a large painting - probably close to 36" wide, and I had another must-do errand and perhaps 25 miles to ride before I got home. I had no reasonable way to carry it.
The guy guaranteed me that he'd be there the next day. I put down a deposit and got a receipt with a phone number.
The next day I arrived in a car, but there was nothing at the site but cracked asphalt, weeds, and broken dreams. The phone number was a fake. I'm still searching for my Elvis' Last Supper on black velvet (and Disco David Crocket in Chinese, but that's another story).
I wonder what the ‘Buy It Now’ price was.
Better luck next time.
Edvard Munch was a visionary. The painting represents his realization that someday Barack Obama would be elected President of the United States.
It's a freaki'n crayon drawing drawing and the guy was probably stoned when he did it. There is nothing great about it.
When I became interested in the art world years ago, this is the kind of stuff I admired.
I really do appreciate skill far more so than 'expression' especially when I have no clue what the hell these 'artists' are pretending to express.
It is perfectly fine to appreciate beauty for beauty's sake and talent for what it shows.
The 'Scream' might be worth $100 Million in that Total BS world that Art has become, but I wouldn't hang that ugly damn sketch in my storage shed.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.