One picture is worth a thousand words. That and $80 million.

$80 million is the estimate Sotheby's is putting on Edvard Munch's "The Scream" when it's put on the block May 2nd, according to an article in the New York Times. 

The painting has been hanging in the dining room of Petter Olsen, whose father Thomas was Munch's "neighbor, friend and patron" and rescued 75 of Munch's paintings from the Nazi government in 1937 when the artist's work was declared "degenerate."  When the Olsen family fled the Nazis for New York, Thomas stashed 30 works from his personal collection in a hay barn, where they survived unharmed.

The Times says the painting "has adorned everything from mugs and t-shirts to key chains, anti-George Bush campaign buttons, inflatable dolls and iPad covers." 

Also small children. 

Munch painted 4 versions of "The Scream," and two of them have been stolen in notorious heists.  Sotheby's says it's taking "extra precautions."  Thriller writers take note.

Here's the link:  http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/21/the-scream-heads-for-the-auction-block/?ref=arts