“The Scream” Sets Auction Record

The only version of Edvard Munch's "The Scream" not yet in a museum sold at Sotheby's for $119.9 million. That's by far the highest price ever paid for a painting at auction.

A Picasso held the previous record, $106.5 million.

Why does anyone pay so much for a work of art? On the CBS Evening News I heard an auction-house sales pitch that may help explain it:

You can remake your money, but you can't remake a painting.

Interesting, though, that The Washington Post filed this story under Business, not Arts.