Hearing ‘The Scream’ aloud: How the world media reacts to record price?

Acquired for $119.9m (£74m)at an art auction in Sotheby's, New York, ‘The Scream’ by Edvard Munch is set to join a select group of paintings, which have gone for over $100m, including Picasso's Nude, Green Leaves, and Bust that got $106.5m in 2010.

This harrowing spectre has marketed everything

The strange hold of the Mona Lisa smile is said to be due to the way it disappears when eyeballed direct. The second most famous face in art is likewise marked with ambiguity – is Munch's screamer shrieking at the world, or is he (or is it she?) being screamed at by it, until the head is crushed in by the din?

The little cribsheet of a poem the artist penned around the frame of the version which just sold for $120m hardly helps, as it can support either reading. But if the meaning's mixed up, then so are we all, which is why this harrowing spectre has marketed everything from M&M's to Macaulay Culkin, as well as being used in therapy. – The Guardian

Twitterverse spiked with commentary and insight

When Edvard Munch’s 'The Scream' sold at auction for $120 million, the Twitterverse spiked with commentary and insight….well not exactly. Reading people’s tweets over the past few hours, it is clear that many people feel moved to pass on the news about the $120 million sale but what do their viewpoints actually consist of,  in this “broadcast yourself” moment?

Robin Bew, Chief Economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit says of the $120 million: “That’s what massive global liquidity injections do to asset prices!” But it’s not just asset prices. The forward value of businesses are also being overestimated. Rakesh Agrawal ‏ of Venture Beat nailed that: “The Scream sells for 0.119 Instagrams. Pricey on a per-image basis. Few simultaneous uniques.” – The Forbes

One of the most famous images in the world

“The Scream” is one of the most famous images in the world. You could argue that it’s too famous for its own good. Like the Mona Lisa, the picture’s so familiar that it’s virtually impossible to respond to it freshly. Perhaps it’s no coincidence that both Da Vinci’s masterpiece and Munch’s have been the subject of sensational thefts. Indeed, two different versions of “The Scream” have been stolen from separate museums in Oslo on different occasions (one from the Norwegian National Gallery in 1994 and another from the Munch Museum in 2004, both eventually recovered). – The Bloomberg

Is it worth $120 million?

What art could be more predictable than ‘The Scream’, one of the best-known images in the world? You can see why. Its essentials are readable from across a room. And with its skull head trapped under a shutting-down sky, it’s the pictorial equivalent of double exclamation points. Is it worth $120 million? The only way I can answer is by asking another question: If I were suddenly handed the same amount of money for art, is that the way I’d spend it? No. – The New York Times