CHELSEA owner Roman Abramovich has forked out £95MILLION for a painting.
The Russian Billionaire spent the staggering sum on Edvard Munch’s iconic piece ‘The Scream’ and it makes the £54m the Blues are about to spend on Timo Werner look like pocket money.
The famous work shows a person appearing to cry out in pain and despair and is said to be one of the most powerful depictions of anguish and anxiety in the art world.
Norwegian artist Munch produced four versions of the piece – two painted and two in pastel.
And the work oligarch Abramovich has snapped up is the only one to be part of a private collection.
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On May 2, the bidding started at just under £40m at the Sotheby’s auction in New York where the oligarch is said to have participated anonymously over the phone.
Said to have been produced between 1893 and 1910, the piece is now one of the most expensive paintings in history.
Sotheby’s plan to build a new museum, hotel and art centre in Norway with the proceeds from the sale.
Many people and most football clubs across the country are suffering serious financial consequences from the coronavirus outbreak but oil tycoon Abramovich seems to have bucked that trend with this latest purchase.
His Chelsea side are also set to clinch the £54m signing of RB Leipzig’s Timo Werner from under Liverpool’s nose while many clubs search for money to pay wages.
Blues chiefs were confident they’d sealed the signing of the Germany striker in a move costing an overall £106million.
But Leipzig supremo Oliver Mintzlaff said: “We have not had an exchange with Chelsea yet.
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“So far, Timo Werner has not drawn the clause — nor has a club sent a transfer contract.
“We have nothing to report and do not take part in the daily speculation.”
Chelsea are willing to meet Leipzig’s £54m release clause for Werner, 24, and the star himself is believed to have agreed a £52m, five-year contract with the Blues worth £200,000 a week.
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