Art Markets: Record $120 Million for “The Scream”

Image from Wikipedia.org

From Yahoo

Edvard Munch's painting "The Scream," one of the world's most recognizable works of art, sold for $120 million at Sotheby's on Wednesday, setting a new record as the most expensive piece of art ever sold at auction.

The sale at Sotheby's Impressionist and Modern Art auction featured other works by Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali and Joan Miro, but Munch's vibrant piece was the centerpiece of the auction in a salesroom packed with collectors, bidders and the media.

The vibrant pastel from 1895 was conservatively estimated to sell for about $80 million at Sotheby's, but two determined bidders drove the final price to $107 million, or $119,922,500 including commission, during a 15-minute bidding war.

One of four versions by the Scandinavian painter, which was being sold by Norwegian businessman Petter Olsen, "The Scream" easily eclipsed the old auction record held by Picasso's "Nude, Green Leaves and Bust," which went for $106.5 million at Christie's two years ago.

I have been pointing out that symptoms of bubbles have not been limited to towering skycrapers, but also to art and wine prices.

The record sale of “The Scream” which coincides with today’s easy money (zero interest rate) environment and central bank QEs, I believe has been highlighting this.

Nevertheless “The Scream” whose artist Edvard Munch described as…

I was walking along a path with two friends – the sun was setting – suddenly the sky turned blood red – I paused, feeling exhausted, and leaned on the fence – there was blood and tongues of fire above the blue-black fjord and the city – my friends walked on, and I stood there trembling with anxiety – and I sensed an infinite scream passing through nature.

…seems to be a propitious theme in today’s sharply volatile politically influenced markets, as driven by serial bubble policies, unwieldy debt, politically desperate actions manifested through rampant inflationism and financial repression.

Anxiety channeled through the "sense of an infinite scream passing through nature" seem to be part of the world we are living in.