Next to the "Mona Lisa," this may be the most famous image in art, parodied in all kinds of web creations and considered a master work that expresses psychological horror and disconnection. For many critics in the decades after its creation, "The Scream" came to represent civilization's horror at the distortions and agonies of the 20th Century then about to begin. If not the most famous artwork ever, it's certainly in the top 10.
Painted in 1895 by the Norwegian Edvard Munch (whose name during his life certainly didn't have the cachet of "Mona Lisa" painter Leonardo Da Vinci), the painting recently was sold at Sotheby's for $119.9 million (plus another $6 million in dealer fees).
That price, at a time of once-again overheated markets for high-end art (thanks in part to strong interest among Asian buyers) makes me wonder what the "Mona Lisa" would bring. Given that Leonardo's masterpiece is the jewel of the extraordinary collection at France's La Louvre museum and a national treasure, this is completely theoretical. But if France needed a way out of its current financial doldrums, that would be one heck of an auction price.
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