Sotheby’s London biannual sale of Old Master, Modern and Contemporary Prints will take place on Thursday, 29 March 2012.

Superlative examples by pre-eminent artists who are leaders in the print-making field span a period of over 500 years, from the Renaissance through the Dutch Golden Age to the Pop Generation and beyond. The 181-lot auction is expected to bring in the region of £2.3 million.

The cover lot of the sale is a screenprint of Andy Warhol’s The Scream (After Munch), produced in 1984 in a unique combination of colours that are exceptionally fresh and vibrant (est. £150,000-200,000).  Commissioned as an edition print, which was never published, it exists only in unique colour variants. Warhol used Munch’s very rare lithograph of The Scream as his primary source.

Headlining the Old Masters section of the sale is a monumental etching by Rembrandt that is often singled out as the masterpiece of the artist’s graphic oeuvre. Christ Crucified Between the Two Crosses: ‘The Three Crosses’ rivals the master’s paintings with an impact achieved through its subject matter and grand scale. This rare work was executed in the delicate medium of drypoint and is estimated at £250,000-350,000.

The sale will present a selection of British prints by C.R.W. Nevinson, Cyril Power and Sybil Andrews that capture an extremely important moment in time, the inter-war period in twentieth-century Britain. This group of artists was influenced by the Futurist and Vorticist Movements and they created powerful and dynamic images which extolled movement, noise, and the atmosphere of the era.

A print by German Expressionist Conrad Felixmüller is resonant with many of the iconographic hallmarks associated with the group of artists who were active in Germany during the early twentieth century. Produced in 1920, Kohlenbergarbeiter is a rare lithograph printed in colours with extensive hand-colouring in blue, black and orange crayon (est. £25,000-35,000).

Among a diverse group of prints by Pablo Picasso are portraits of two women who played an important role in his life and art. Femme au Chapeau (Portrait de Jacqueline au Chapeau de paille multicolore) depicts Jacqueline Roque, and is a vibrant linocut in fresh condition from 1962 (est. £35,000-45,000). Françoise, a lithograph dating to 1946, offers a beautiful depiction of Françoise Gilot, full face and in startingly direct engagement with the viewer (est. £30,000-40,000).

The sale will present an exciting range of prints by leading Post-War and Contemporary artists, including Francis Bacon, Jean-Michel and Keith Haring, in addition to two butterfly prints by Damien Hirst.

Prints by Pop artist Andy Warhol lead the Pop Generation section of the sale. In addition to Warhol’s print of The Scream (After Munch), several iconic images by the twentieth-century master feature icons of the modern age (Superman from the Myths Series, Marilyn, and Anniversary Donald Duck).