Print of Munch`s `Madonna` sells for £1.25 mln

London: A hand-coloured print of Edvard Munch`s "Madonna" has sold at auction in London for 1.25 million pounds, Bonhams said.

The price was around double pre-sale estimates of 500,000 to 700,000 pounds and made it the most expensive print ever to be sold at auction in Britain, said the auction house Tuesday. The 1895 work was sold at Bonhams to a private buyer from the United States, for 1,252,000 pounds including buyer`s premium. The print, which had not been shown in public before coming to auction, shows the Madonna in yellow and white set against a halo of blue, green and red. The Norwegian artist reworked his original idea several times between 1895 and 1902. The work sold Tuesday had been in the same family for more than 100 years. "It has been a real privilege selling such a wonderful image and it fully deserves to have achieved such a fantastic price," said Robert Kennan, Bonhams head of prints. Bureau Report