The Scream

"I was walking down the road with two friends when the sun set. Suddenly, the sky turned as red as blood. I stopped and leaned against the fence, feeling unspeakably tired. Tongues of fire and blood stretched over the bluish black fjord. My friends went on walking, while I lagged behind shivering with fear. Then I heard the enormous, infinite scream of nature."

A new record was set today for the world's most expensive painting, with Edvard Munch's 'The Scream' fetching $119,922,500 at auction at Sotheby's new York. Unsurprisingly the bidder was anonymous, with the piece previously estimated at $80million, having been under tight security at viewings in the run up to the auction. The piece is pastel on board in its original frame, and is one of five versions of the same scene- 2 paintings, 2 pastels, 1 lithograph. 

How Munch managed to capture the essence of despair and inner torture with vibrant colours is wondrous. The high price for this piece is a reminder that no matter how high the shock factor that pickled sharks can produce nor whatever reaction diamond skulls are meant to attain, nothing astounds the viewer more than producing a human emotion in 2D form. In a way its a form of empathy- being shown that there are others who feel what you feel. And perhaps just like art can be therapy for the artist, it can be a therapy for the viewer- transforming the viewer's emotion into feelings of awe and wonder at how something so tragic can be so beautiful. 

Some of you may have had the pleasure of visiting Munch's print exhibition at Dublin's National Gallery in 2009. The next chance to experience Munch for yourself will be at the Tate Modern  in London from June 28th to October 2012 with an exhibition entitled 'Edvard Munch: The Modern Eye', and after this auction the show is sure to be a hit.