Private copy of The Scream for sale

The only privately-owned version of Edvard Munch’s classic masterpiece The Scream has gone on show in London for the first time before it is sold at auction in New York.

The famous picture is on display at Sotheby’s in the capital for a week and is expected to fetch $80 million (£50.4m) or more at the Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale in New York on 2 May.

The pastel work, which features a haunted figure in front of a red backdrop, is one of the most recognisable images in the world.

If the piece fetches its estimated value it will be one of the most expensive art works to be sold at auction, alongside Picasso’s Nude, Green Leaves and Bust, which holds the current record after it sold for $106m (£66.4m) at Christie’s in New York in May 2010.

The Scream up for auction is one of four versions created by Munch and is privately owned by Norwegian businessman Petter Olsen whose father was a friend and patron of the artist.

The Munch Museum in Oslo holds two versions of The Scream and the third is displayed at The National Gallery of Norway.

The Scream for sale was created in 1885 and is the only version with a frame hand-painted by Munch which includes a poem explaining his inspiration.

It is also the only version in which one of the two figures in the background turns to look outward on to the cityscape. Owner Petter Olsen said: “I have lived with this work all my life.

“Now I feel the moment has come to offer the rest of the world a chance to own and appreciate this remarkable work.”