Qatar is expected to bid for Edvard Munch’s iconic painting ‘The Scream’ when it comes up for auction in New York next month

Qatar is expected to bid for Edvard Munch’s iconic painting ‘The Scream’ when it comes up for auction in New York next month, art insiders in the US have said.

Munch’s ‘The Scream’, considered the second most famous painting after Da Vinci’s ‘Mona Lisa’, is set to be auctioned at Sotheby’s in New York on May 2.

Insiders in the US said the Gulf State will seek to add the much imitated painting to its recent list of iconic trophy art pieces.

Qatar spent a reported $250m in February acquiring Paul Cézanne’s The Card Players, making it the highest sum ever paid for an art work, sources claimed.

Qatar is pitching itself as a new destination in the art world as it is hosting exhibits by Richard Serra, Louise Bourgeois and the Qatar Museums Authority recently sponsored Damien Hirst’s exhibition in London.

The Art Newspaper ranked Qatar as the world’s biggest art buyer last year citing the king’s daughter, Sheikha Al Mayassa, as a driving force behind the attempt to "turn the oil-rich desert state into a cultural centre to rival Paris and New York".

Qatar has in the recent past bought Mark Rothko’s White Centre (Yellow, Pink and Lavender on Rose) for $70m and Damien Hirst’s pill cabinet Lullaby Spring for $20m.