"The Scream" goes for $120m

A packed auction house audience waits with bated breath as Edvard Munch's painting "The Scream" takes center stage.

One the most famous works in the world, the painting was the star of a Sotheby's auction on Wednesday in New York.

Industry players predicted the piece created in 1895 would sell for around $80 million.

But it sold for much more than that, eventually going for a record of almost $120 million to an anonymous bidder over the phone, just 15 minutes after the bidding began.

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The previous record was Picasso's painting "Nude, green leaves and bust", which sold for $106.5 million two years ago.

Jessica Gray, Reuters