One of my favorite paintings was auctioned off at Sotheby’s in New York today. Winning bid: $119,922,500.

Dang it! I was outbid again!

Most people don’t know that Skrik is actually a series of paintings created between 1893 and 1910. The version just sold (a pastel from 1895) is the last one in private hands. It was previously owned by Norwegian business heir Petter Olsen.

The 1893 version (and possibly my favorite) is now at the National Gallery in Oslo. My second favorite (the 1910 version) is located at the Munch Museum, also in Oslo. (It was stolen in 2004, and recovered in 2006). The same museum also holds another pastel.

Edvard Munch: Skrik (The Scream). This is the 1893 version. Click to enlarge.

I’m excited. Reuters just reported that one of my favorite paintings has been recovered: “The Scream” by Edvard Munch (1893).

OSLO, Norway – Norwegian police recovered “The Scream” and another stolen masterpiece by Edvard Munch on Thursday, two years after the works were seized from a museum by gunmen. “We are 100 percent certain they are the originals,” police chief Iver Stensrud told a news conference. “The damage was much less than feared. (Reuters)

Visited the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and loved the photograhps of André Kertész (Budapest 1894 – New York 1985). Here are some samples.