who painted "the scream"

The famous Norwegian painter Edvard Munch painted "The Scream" in 1893. Its official title is "Skrik", which is "cry" in Norwegian. Because of this, some refer to the painting as "The Cry."

"The Scream" was painted in oil, tempera, and pastel on cardboard and is currently located at the National Gallery in Oslo, Norway. Edvard Munch is considered a forerunner of the Expressionist movement in art. There were actually four different versions of "The Scream," two paintings and two done in pastel, a type of high-quality crayon used often by artists.

On Tuesday, May 2, 2012, the 1895 pastel version of “The Scream” was sold in an auction at Sotheby's in New York City for $119.9 million, making it the most expensive work of art ever sold via auction.