Edvard Munch's haunting painting 'The Scream' will go under the hammer at Sotheby's in New York on May 2, 2012, with the auctioneer putting a value of $80 million on the work - the highest pre-sale value in history, reports Reuters. The 1895 piece is currently owned by Norwegian businessman Petter Olsen, whose father was a friend and neighbour of Munch himself.

There are four versions of The Scream in total, which features an agonized figure with its hands to its ears - apparently screaming. It is certainly one of the most instantly recognisable images in the world and its valuation reflects that. Senior vice president of the auction house Simon Shaw called the pastel-creation, "one of the most important works of art in private hands", and added, "Given how rarely true icons come to the market it is difficult to predict The Scream's value.The recent success of masterpieces at Sotheby's suggests that the price could exceed $80 million". During the Nazi regime, Munch's artworks were declared "degenerate" and removed from the great German collections - however, Olsen stepped into rescue the works (including the Scream) and transported them to his family farm in Norway where it remained until the country was liberated in 1945. In 1994, two thieves entered the National Gallery of Norway and fled with the 1893 version of the panting, though it was later returned unharmed. A decade later, masked gunmen stole the 1910 version of The Scream, but again, the work was recovered and went back on exhibition in 2008.

The fiery red landscape in the background of The Scream is understood to be Oslofjord, as viewed from the pier in Horten, Norway.