The only privately owned version of Edvard Munch's famed painting The Scream will go on the block in New York on May 2. Sotheby's expects it to fetch more than US$80 million (HK$624 million).

The 1895 work, right, is owned by Norwegian businessman Petter Olsen, whose father was a friend, neighbor and patron of Munch.

There are four versions of the famous depiction of a figure facing out with its hands to its ears apparently screaming. The three others belong to Norwegian museum collections.

The work seeks to communicate Munch's anxiety in the hills above Oslo and has been interpreted by many as the embodiment of modern-day anxiety and existential angst.

Simon Shaw, senior vice president and head of Sotheby's Impressionist & Modern Art department in New York, said: "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 US$80 million."