Back in 2012, Edvard Munch’s “The Scream” became the most expensive single piece of artwork sold at auction, realizing a staggering $119.9 million at Sotheby’s in New York.
Four years later, the auction house is putting another rare Munch on the block, “Girls on the Bridge.” They’re setting a pre-auction estimate of over $50 million on the painting before the hammer even falls. It’s just one of a series of masterworks that will be up for auction in Sotheby’s “Impressionist and Modern Art” evening sale on Nov. 14.
The auction house’s Simon Shaw, co-head of the worldwide impressionist and modern art department, says of the Norwegian artist:
“Edvard Munch’s importance to the full breadth of 20th-century art cannot be overstated. From the Expressionists to Fauvism and Pop Art, his oeuvre is increasingly prized for its lasting influence on the art of recent times. Munch pioneered the art of the self: recent museum shows pairing his work with that of artists ranging from Vincent van Gogh to Robert Mapplethorpe, Louise Bourgeois, Jasper Johns and Andy Warhol—among many others—have illustrated that his genius burns brighter today than ever.”
Other painters represented in the auction include Pablo Picasso, Vincent Van Gogh, and Henri Matisse. A second Munch painting is also being offered in the auction—”Young Woman on the Veranda”—and it has a pre-auction estimate of $2.5 million to $3.5 million.
To browse all the lots in the auction, click here. Take a look at a sampling of some of the other works below, as well as their pre-auction estimates.
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