Munch Scream Now World's Priciest Auction Trophy

A pastel version of Edvard Munch's The Scream sold for  $119.9 million at Sotheby's last night, becoming the most expensive artwork ever sold at auction. It surpasses the record set by Picasso's 1932 Nude, Green Leaves and Bust, which sold at Christie's in 2010 for $106.5 million.

The auction achieved Sotheby's highest ever total for an Impressionist-modern auction. The $331 million total, with 76 lots, topped the high estimate. Last May's Impressionist-modern sale brought $170,478,000.
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Christie's Impressionists and Moderns Make a Tepid Start to May Sales

Against the dramatic backdrop of May Day demonstrations that led to some 50 arrests citywide, Christie's New York sale of Impressionist and modern art last night was a fairly sleepy affair, garnering $117 million, with only eight of 31 lots selling above their estimates. The sale was over in just an hour. The same sale last year at Christie's tallied nearly $156 million.

The house had predicted sales of $99 to $142 million on a modest 32 lots (a Giacometti bronze was withdrawn at the last minute). The numbers painted a rosy picture—90% sold by volume, with two works selling for over $10 million, five for over $5 million and 14 for over $1 million—and some dealers put a positive spin on the results.
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May Auctions Launch with Cezanne and Munch

Sotheby's and Christie's in New York are hoping to find new homes for over a billion dollars' worth of art at their May sales over the next nine days. Despite lagging economies throughout much of the West and perhaps buoyed by rising markets in Asia and the Middle East, the houses have brought together an impressive roster of offerings, including a version of one of the world's best-known artworks.

Sotheby's May 2 Impressionist and modern evening sale is estimated to bring $245.9 million–$322.7 million with 76 lots. Sotheby's projects they will double Christie's expected results: Christie's estimates $99–$142 million on a slimmed-down 32 lots at its May 1 Impressionist and modern evening sale. Christie's department chairman Thomas Seydoux announced last month that he will resign after this season in favor of private dealing.
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Michael Findlay on the Value of Looking

Seasoned art dealer Michael Findlay's book addresses head-on questions like, "Is art a good investment?" The Value of Art (due out in May from Prestel, $29.95 in hardcover) draws on Findlay's decades of experience as an art dealer, and contains many tales from his time as an insider.

The Scottish-born Findlay is director of New York's Acquavella Galleries, known for exhibitions of 19th- and 20th-century masters such as Picasso, Braque, Rosenquist and Lucian Freud. He ran his own gallery in SoHo in the 1960s, showing artists such as John Baldessari, Stephen Mueller, Sean Scully and Hannah Wilke. He went on to Christie's, where he served as head of Impressionist and modern paintings. It was Findlay who was responsible for the famous sale of Vincent van Gogh's Portrait of Dr. Gachet, for $82,500,000.
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