Edvard Munch/Sotheby’s Auction House, via Associated Press 
 
 A version of Edvard Munch’s “The Scream,” one of the most recognizable images in art history, sold at Sotheby’s on Wednesday night for just under $120 million, the most ever paid for an artwork at auction. Five bidders competed for the work, which sold to a telephone bidder. 
 
 Munch made four versions of “The Scream,” three of which are now in Norwegian museums; the one that sold on Wednesday, a pastel on board from 1895, was the only one still in private hands. It was sold by Petter Olsen, a Norwegian businessman and shipping heir whose father was a friend, neighbor and patron of the artist. 
 
 “The Scream” has been reproduced endlessly in popular culture in recent decades, making it nearly as famous as the Mona Lisa. ||||| One of the art world's most recognizable images _ Edvard Munch's "The Scream" _ sold Wednesday for a record $119,922,500 at auction in New York City. 
 
 FILE - This undated photo provided by Sotheby's shows "The Scream" by Norwegian painter Edvard Munch. The work, which dates from 1895 and is one of four versions of the composition, will lead Sotheby's... (Associated Press) 
 
 The 1895 artwork _ a modern symbol of human anxiety _ was sold at Sotheby's. The price includes the buyer's premium. 
 
 The 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 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 "Together with the Mona Lisa, it's the most famous and recognized image in art history," he added. 
 
 Sotheby's said its pastel-on-board version of "The Scream" is the most colorful and vibrant of the four and the only version whose frame was hand-painted by the artist to include his poem, detailing the work's inspiration. 
 
 In the poem, Munch described himself "shivering with anxiety" and said he felt "the great scream in nature." 
 
 Norwegian businessman Petter Olsen, whose father was a friend and patron of the artist, said he sold the piece because he felt "the moment has come to offer the rest of the world the chance to own and appreciate this remarkable work." 
 
 Proceeds from the sale will go toward the establishment of a new museum, art center and hotel in Hvitsten, Norway, where Olsen's father and Munch were neighbors. 
 
 The director of the National Museum in Oslo, Audun Eckhoff, says Norwegian authorities approved the Munch sale since the other versions of the composition are in Norwegian museums. One version is owned by the National Museum and two others by the Munch Museum, also in Oslo. 
 
 Sotheby's said a total of eight works have sold for $80 million or more at auction. 
 
 Only two other works besides Picasso's "Nude, Green Leaves, and Bust" have sold for more than $100 million at auction. Those are Picasso's "Boy With a Pipe (The Young Apprentice)" for $104.1 million in 2004 and Alberto Giacometti's "Walking Man I" for $104.3 million in 2010. 
 
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 Online: http://www.sothebys.com
– The experts thought Edvard Munch's The Scream would bring in a princely sum, but not this much: $119.9 million. That's the most ever paid for a painting at auction, reports the New York Times. (The previous record was $106.5 million for a Picasso, notes AP.) No word yet on who bought the 1895 painting at Sotheby's. Five bidders were in contention, and the winning bid came via the telephone.