( CNN ) -- Art enthusiasts ranging from aficionados to the causal tourist queued up in New York on Wednesday to catch a glimpse of Norwegian artist Edvard Munch 's `` The Scream , '' which went on display in Manhattan 's Museum of Modern Art for a six-month exhibition . The exhibit opened Wednesday and runs through April 2013 . `` Seeing it in real life is so special , '' said Julianna Rees , a San Francisco resident who attended the opening . The iconic work fetched nearly $ 120 million at Sotheby 's auction house in May . Previously , the most expensive artwork ever sold there was Pablo Picasso 's painting `` Nude , Green Leaves and Bust , '' which brought in $ 106.5 million two years ago . The previous record for a Munch work of art tallied just over $ 38 million . Dubbed `` the portrait of a soul '' and `` the face that launched 1,000 therapists , '' `` The Scream '' depicts a distorted human figure -- hands flat against its sunken face , eyes and mouth wide open -- in the foreground of a nightmarish landscape .
The exhibit opened Wednesday and runs through April 2013 . A new exhibition at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History explores how a group of black women in New York City helped to create what is now known as Harlem Renaissance. The previous record for a Munch work of art tallied just over $ 38 million .