Edvard Munch’s The Scream goes on display at MoMA for six months

A version of Edvard Munch’s The Scream, which became the most expensive artwork sold at auction earlier this year, is to go on display in New York.

The 1895 pastel, bought by an anonymous bidder in May for $120 million, will go on view at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) for six months from 24 October.

MoMA director Glenn D Lowry told the New York Times it was “an incredible opportunity” to see the rare artwork.

The work is one of four in a series by the Norwegian expressionist artist.

The other three versions of The Scream, which depicts a hairless figure on a bridge under a brightly colored sky, are all owned by Norwegian museums.

According to the newspaper, the painting’s new owner is believed to be US financier Leon Black, a leading collector and a member of MoMA’s board.

The pastel will be on view until 29 April 2013 and will hang on the museum’s fifth floor under strict security, the New York Times reported.

Two of the other versions of the painting were stolen, one in 1994 and another in 2004. Both were later recovered.

Before May, the record price for an artwork sold at auction was held by Picasso’s Nude, Green Leaves, and Bust, which sold for $106.5 million in 2010.