New York billionaire Leon Black has finally been revealed as the proud new owner of Edvard Munch's The Scream, after securing it for $119.9m at Sotheby's back in May.
 Will The Scream be displayed at a museum in future? |
Black, lead partner at the alternative investment management firm Apollo Global Management, is currently listed at number 107 on the Forbes 400 list, with his company managing $75bn worth of assets.
His purchase caused a stir throughout the art collecting world, with the pastel rendition of the famed work now standing as the most expensive artwork ever auctioned. With opposition from eight other bidders in both the US and China, Black calmly raised bids past everyone's budget in a 12 minute sale that left auctioneers reeling.
According to the Wall Street Journal, as bids passed the $100m threshold Sotheby's Toby Meyer said: "Can I say I love you?", his eyes filled with dollar signs as bids came rolling in.
The version at auction was one of just four created by Munch between 1893 and 1910, with the remaining copies currently all housed across his native Norway. The pastel version will join Black's already illustrious art collection, which features works from Van Gogh, Raphael and Picasso among others.
Black's collection hangs on the walls of his home and therefore The Scream is unlikely to be displayed at museums or galleries in the near future. That said, he is on the boards of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art.
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Images: Sotheby's
