newsmakers

newsmakers

h‘The Scream’ brings $119.9M at auction

NEW YORK

It’s a scream that’s still reverberating around the world. One of the most iconic images in art history — Edvard Munch’s “The Scream” — has become the most expensive artwork ever sold at auction.

During an intense 12 minutes, the 1895 artwork — a modern symbol of human anxiety — was sold at Sotheby’s in New York City on Wednesday for a record $119,922,500. Neither the buyer’s name nor any details about the buyer were released.

The previous record for an artwork sold at auction was $106.5 million for Picasso’s “Nude, Green Leaves, and Bust,” sold by Christie’s in 2010.

Munch’s image of a man holding his head and screaming under a streaked, blood-red sky is one of four versions by the Norwegian expressionist painter. The auctioned piece at Sotheby’s is the only one left in private hands.

The image has become part of pop culture, “used by everyone from Warhol to Hollywood to cartoons to teacups and T-shirts,” said Michael Frahm of the London-based art advisory service firm Frahm Ltd.

‘Slap Shot’ town getting hockey team

JOHNSTOWN, PA.

The gritty western Pennsylvania city whose rich minor-league hockey history helped inspire the cult movie “Slap Shot” is getting another chance to support a hockey team — this time a junior-league squad that’s moving from Alaska.

Johnstown Sports Partners LLC announced the deal Thursday at the Cambria County War Memorial Arena, where the yet-to-be-named team will play.

James Bouchard, chairman and chief executive of private investment firm Esmark Inc., is leading the deal bringing the North American Hockey League’s Alaska Avalanche to Johnstown, about 60 miles east of Pittsburgh.

“Slap Shot” was based on the Johnstown Jets, who played from 1950 until 1977.

Associated Press