Munch print becomes most expensive ever sold - 14/07/2010

Munch's work sold for £1,252,000 at Bonham's on July 13th, making it the most expensive print sold at auction in the UK and second in the world.

The controversial image fetched more than double its lowest pre-sale estimate of £500,000.

It is the first work by Munch that depicts the Madonna and the model was his lover Dagny Juel. It is hand-coloured and shows the Madonna in yellow and white with a halo of blue, green and red.

Robert Kennan, head of prints at Bonham's, said: "It has been a real privilege selling such a wonderful image and it fully deserves to have achieved such a fantastic price."

Juel modelled for Munch, famous for the Scream, several times. She was a minor Norwegian writer, known for her liaisons with artists.

She was born in 1867 and killed in 1901, aged just 33, by her young lover who shot her in a hotel room.

The last painting by Munch sold at auction, Vampire II, for £1,256,000 in 2007.

Posted by Harry Baxter