May03

10+1 Non-Boring Tweets About ‘The Scream’

Posted by Kara Lawton on May 3, 2012 in Art | 0 comments

Guess what? You can earn $120M in 12 minutes. Just ask Sotheby’s who did it last night by selling one of four versions of Edvard Munch’s “The Scream.” Even after the elite auction house’s $12.9M commission, the Norwegian seller will have plenty left to spend.

Previous owner Petter Olsen plans to use some of the money to establish a Munch museum in Hvitsten, Norway.

Olsen’s father was the artist’s friend and one of his biggest collectors. The Los Angeles Times reports that the elder Olsen even helped Munch conceal his art from the Nazis.

The $119.9M price tag gives “The Scream” bragging rights to the most money paid for art in an auction and dethrones Picasso’s “Nude, Green Leaves and Bust” sold by Christie’s for $106M in 2010.

Two other works have been auctioned for more than $100M: “L’Homme Qui Marche” (Walking Man 1) by Alberto Giacometti and another Picasso painting, “Garcon a la Pipe.” Giacometti’s piece is a bronze statue, in stark contrast to Munch’s 2D pastel aka crayon drawing.

News of the historic sale is dominating media, with “The Scream” trending on Twitter and auction video clips among the most-viewed on news sites, including the Guardian.com. [Warning: Addictive video at other end of link.]

“The Scream” auction proves crayons aren’t a waste of time. Unfortunately, reading about it hardly lives up to Munch’s inscription on the famous drawing: “Nature was screaming in my blood.”

It’s time to shake things up by sharing what some more obliging folks are saying on Twitter. Step two is digging out the crayon box and creating a masterpiece of your own. Ha det gøy!