(Bloomberg) -- Edvard Munch’s “The Scream,” one of the most iconic and copied images in art history, fetched $119.9 million at Sotheby’s tonight, the highest price paid for a work of art at auction.
The result smashed the previous record of $106.5 million, established in May 2010 by Pablo Picasso’s “Nude, Green Leaves and Bust.”
The 1895 pastel-on-board Munch work was the most-talked-about lot of the current New York auctions, which run through May 11 and may tally $1.5 billion.
Sotheby’s Impressionist and modern art sale is continuing. Its 76 lots are estimated by auction house to tally $245.9 million to $322.7 million.
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