Edvard Munch

NEW YORK -- Sometimes beauty is trumped by the beast. After bullish expectations and an aggressive marketing campaign for an image considered the quintessential expression of modern horror, Sotheby'sNew York sold Edvard Munch's 1895 “The Scream” for $119.9 million on Wednesday night, setting a record for the most expensive artwork sold at auction. The top spot was previously held by Picasso's 1932 “Nude, Green, Leave and Bust” -- a painting of his much-younger lover Marie-Therese Walter that sold at Christie's in 2010 for $106.5 million.

Edvard Munch would be 150 this year, and his most famous (and famously lampooned) artwork, "The Scream," has inspired an offbeat tourism campaign. Visitnorway hopes to make the world's longest "scream" film in honor of the artist's milestone birthday. The tourism agency has produced a few minutes of screams (exhilarating, exciting, blood-curdling, take your pick) and encourages folks from around the world to add their voice via webcam or video to the existing film. Folks can scream anywhere, any place, any time, and post their entry on the tourism website to become part of the film.

Experts fear that theft damage to Edvard Munch's painting "The Scream," one of the world's most famous images, may be too extensive to completely repair, according to a report to be released today. The painting and another Munch masterpiece, "Madonna," were recovered by police in August, two years after they were stolen from Oslo's Munch Museum by masked gunmen in a brazen daylight heist on Aug. 22, 2004.

At last, one ultra-famous artwork bought at auction by a super-rich private collector is not set to disappear from public view forever. Or even for long. The Museum of Modern Art in New York has announced that it soon will be displaying the 1895 version of Edvard Munch's "The Scream," which set a record for most expensive artwork ever sold publicly when it went to an anonymous bidder at Sotheby's in May for $119.9 million. The work will go on display at MoMA for six months, starting Oct. 24. Its owner is believed to be private equity giant Leon Black, a trustee on the boards of both MoMA and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. MoMA has not, however, confirmed any details about the source of its loan.

Occasionally, when life gets a bit much, the desire to escape envelops us. Where to go? Once we've dismissed Bali and other exotic places, Scandinavia starts seeming like a good getaway. Civilized, cultured and humane, it's just far enough off the main stem that one could live above the fray as an observer. All the advantages of Euro-American culture without the stress. Endless summer days. Cozy winters when it barely gets light.

The city of Oslo is offering a reward of up to $310,000 for information leading to the return of the stolen Edvard Munch masterpieces "The Scream" and "Madonna," which have been missing for nine months. The decision to offer a reward was taken by the city in cooperation with the police, said Morten Hojem Ervik, a police attorney, in an interview. The police previously advised against offering a reward to avoid encouraging similar thefts.

Nine paintings by Norwegian Expressionist Edvard Munch fetched $30 million when they were sold at auction in London Tuesday. His lyrical 1904 work "Summer Day" was sold to an anonymous bidder for $10.84 million, almost double the expected price. "Self-Portrait in Front of Two-Colored Background" fetched $6.3 million. The works were sold by Norwegian shipping magnate Fred Olsen, whose family has owned them since the 1920s.

The Edvard Munch masterpieces "The Scream" and "Madonna" suffered minor damage after being stolen by masked gunmen in August 2004, but they can be repaired, museum officials in Oslo, Norway said Friday. Munch Museum Director Ingebjoerg Ydstie said "The Scream" had been banged hard in one corner and "Madonna" had a roughly 1-inch hole and some loose paint. "Our skilled conservators will be able to repair the damage," she said.

Norwegian police fielded a flood of tips but still had no motive Monday for the daring theft of "The Scream" and another Edvard Munch masterpiece by armed robbers who barged into a lightly guarded Oslo museum and ripped the paintings from the walls before stunned visitors. Police, who launched a nationwide hunt for the works, said there had been no word from the thieves, who were widely expected to demand a ransom.

NEW YORK -- Sometimes beauty is trumped by the beast. After bullish expectations and an aggressive marketing campaign for an image considered the quintessential expression of modern horror, Sotheby'sNew York sold Edvard Munch's 1895 “The Scream” for $119.9 million on Wednesday night, setting a record for the most expensive artwork sold at auction. The top spot was previously held by Picasso's 1932 “Nude, Green, Leave and Bust” -- a painting of his much-younger lover Marie-Therese Walter that sold at Christie's in 2010 for $106.5 million.

Edvard Munch's 1895 pastel "The Scream" hits the auction block in New York on Wednesday. No official estimate for its monetary value is printed in Sotheby's catalog , but officials have not been shy about disclosing that they expect at least $80 million for the picture, still in the original frame annotated by the artist. When one of the world's most recognizable images is paired with the highest price any auction house has ever tagged on a work of art, the temptation for snark is nearly irresistible.

The theft-damaged Edvard Munch masterpieces "The Scream" and "Madonna" may require treatment by an eye surgeon to remove tiny splinters of glass during their restoration, the Munch Museum director said Wednesday. "That is one of the options under consideration," Lise Mjoes said in an interview after testifying at a court hearing in Oslo. She said an eye surgeon had the skills and equipment for removing glass fragments without damaging the surrounding area.

Experts fear that theft damage to Edvard Munch's painting "The Scream," one of the world's most famous images, may be too extensive to completely repair, according to a report to be released today. The painting and another Munch masterpiece, "Madonna," were recovered by police in August, two years after they were stolen from Oslo's Munch Museum by masked gunmen in a brazen daylight heist on Aug. 22, 2004.

Ending a 60-year wait, the heir of composer Gustav Mahler will finally be reunited with a painting by Edvard Munch that the family says was taken unfairly from them after they fled the Nazis in 1938. Marina Mahler, the renowned composer's granddaughter, said Thursday that the long battle had left her "totally exhausted" but "feeling a huge sense of peace."

An Austrian advisory panel handling claims for items looted by the Nazis during World War II recommended Wednesday that a Vienna gallery return an Edvard Munch painting to the heir of its former owner, the granddaughter of the late composer Gustav Mahler. The Austrian government is now expected to heed the recommendation and return the painting, titled "Summer Evening at the Beach," to Marina Fistulari-Mahler, the Austria Press Agency reported.

An Austrian advisory panel handling claims for items looted by the Nazis during World War II recommended Wednesday that a Vienna gallery return an Edvard Munch painting to the heir of its former owner, the granddaughter of the late composer Gustav Mahler. The Austrian government is now expected to heed the recommendation and return the painting, titled "Summer Evening at the Beach," to Marina Fistulari-Mahler, the Austria Press Agency reported.

Swedish police on Wednesday tightened border checks after a valuable artwork by Norwegian painter Edvard Munch was stolen from a manor in southern Sweden. Thieves broke into the summer home of a Norwegian ship owner near Horby, 360 miles south of Stockholm, late Tuesday and stole the painting worth an estimated $138,000, police spokesman Per Jansson said. Works by the Norwegian painter, who died in 1944, are a popular target for thieves.

The Edvard Munch masterpieces "The Scream" and "Madonna," damaged when they were stolen in 2004, were displayed for the media Tuesday for the first time since the theft. The priceless paintings were shown under tight security at the Oslo Munch Museum, which also plans a brief public exhibition before painstaking restoration begins. Police recovered the artworks on Aug. 31, just over two years after masked gunmen stole them from the museum in a bold daylight raid.

The Edvard Munch masterpieces "The Scream" and "Madonna" suffered minor damage after being stolen by masked gunmen in August 2004, but they can be repaired, museum officials in Oslo, Norway said Friday. Munch Museum Director Ingebjoerg Ydstie said "The Scream" had been banged hard in one corner and "Madonna" had a roughly 1-inch hole and some loose paint. "Our skilled conservators will be able to repair the damage," she said.