The famous painting The Scream by Norwegian painter Edvard Munch is going up for auction

New York/Prague - On Tuesday, May 2, one of the most famous works of modern art, the painting The Scream (Skrek) by Norwegian expressionist painter Edvard Munch, goes up for auction at Sotheby’s. According to experts, its price could exceed 80 million dollars (almost 1.5 billion crowns). The betting company Ladbrokes is even convinced that the pastel will sell for more than 106 million dollars (1.98 billion crowns), which would be a record for a painting sold at auction, previously held since May 2010 by Pablo Picasso with his nude act in the sculptor's studio.
    The pastel being auctioned, dominated by blue, is one of four versions of The Scream (in Norwegian Skrik) and the only one in private hands. The other two versions belong to the Munch Museum in Oslo, and the most significant one is on display at the National Gallery in the Norwegian capital.
    According to predictions, The Scream will end up in Russia or Asia, among potential buyers are Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich or the prominent art collector, Qatari Princess Sheikha Mayassa, one of the 13 daughters of Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani. However, there is also speculation about Western interests, such as American cosmetics mogul Ronald Lauder. The current owner of the painting, Norwegian financier Petter Olsen, wishes for the painting to be bought by the Museum of Modern Art in New York (MoMA).
    "I have lived with this work my entire life, and its power and energy have only increased over time. But now I feel that the time has come to give the rest of the world a chance to own and appreciate this remarkable piece," said the painting's owner Olsen, who comes from a wealthy shipping family and whose father Thomas was a friend and supporter of Munch.
    Olsen's father purchased the work, created in 1895, with the aim of enhancing the artist's reputation abroad. "In keeping with this tradition, the proceeds from the sale will be used to establish a new museum, art center, and hotel on my farm Ramme Gaard in Hvitsten, Norway. It will open next year on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Edvard Munch's birth (1863-1944) and will be dedicated to the artist's work and the time spent in this place," said Petter Olsen. According to the plan, Munch's studio and the house where guests will be accommodated will be renovated.
    Two versions of Munch's The Scream are oil paintings, and the other two are pastels. In recent years, the publicly displayed versions have repeatedly fallen victim to theft. In 1994, a version of The Scream was stolen from the National Gallery in Oslo, but it was found and returned there later that same year. Ten years later, masked armed robbers took one of the versions of The Scream hanging in the Munch Museum in broad daylight. However, it was later found by the police, and in 2008, the painting could be exhibited again.
    The curator of the Norwegian National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, Öystein Ustvedt, stated that the work gained fame primarily because its theme is "modern angst (Angst)" and, in a broader perspective, fundamental human emotions. "I believe that the post-war existentialism of the painting helped it become an icon of modern art. It is also a painting that is very easy to recognize, copy, imitate, or parody," Ustvedt said.
    "At a time of immense critical interest in this artist and the upcoming 150th anniversary of Munch’s birth, this spring is particularly fitting to bring The Scream to market. For collectors and institutions, this is an unprecedented opportunity to acquire such an influential work of art," noted Simon Shaw, head of the Impressionist and Modern Art department at Sotheby's in New York.
    According to Sotheby's expert Philip Hook, the buyer will be decided among around a dozen interested parties. Based on his theory, collectors are generally unwilling to spend more than one percent of their net worth on a single work of art. This means that bidders will be individuals with assets of eight billion dollars or more.
    The betting company Ladbrokes has rated the odds at 6:4 that the work, which is reportedly the most frequently reproduced and parodied modern painting in the world, will surpass the record value of Picasso's nude. According to bookmakers, there is even a 3:1 chance that the price of the work will climb to 200 million dollars (3.7 billion crowns). The future home of the painting is most likely to be Russia (5:2), with odds of 3:1 for an investor from Asia.