the most talked-about

ノルウェーの画家ムンクの手による４つの「叫び」のうち、１８９５年に描かれ、ムンクの友人だった父親を持つノルウェーの実業家が所有していたものがニューヨークのサザビーズで競売にかけられます。予想落札価格は６４億円を超えるとみられています。

'The Scream' Sale Could Continue Global Art Shift
Munch's masterwork may be gobbled up by a Middle East buyer

By DANIELLE KURTZLEBEN
April 27, 2012 RSS Feed Print

For lovers of moody expressionist depictions of psychological angst, it's a once-in-a-lifetime event. On May 2, Sotheby's will auction off one of the four main versions of Edvard Munch's The Scream—the last privately owned version of the famous masterpiece.

There are few who can hope to compete in the bidding for the pastel-on-board work. It is expected to go for at least $80 million, but to a certain class of buyers, the actual worth is priceless. For cities hoping to soon be among major world art centers, purchasing such a renowned piece would be a big step in that direction.

"If you want to build a world-class museum, which is what Qatar and Abu Dhabi are doing and the Chinese government is doing in Beijing, when you think of a museum you think of an iconic work," says Don Thompson, author of The $12 Million Stuffed Shark: The Curious Economics of Contemporary Art. "If I say 'Louvre,' you think of one painting, right? So you need something like that."

Qatar is among the most talked-about potential bidders for The Scream as it attempts to fill out its art collections. The country spent $250 million on Paul Cezanne's The Cardplayers earlier this year—the highest price ever paid for a work of art.

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2012/04/27/the-scream-sale-could-continue-global-art-shift

talked-about は、おなじみのPV talk aboutがいつの間にか形容詞として使われるようになったものです。「話される」 →「話題にのぼる」 → 「噂の」 という意味で用いられます。さらにこれにmostやmuchを付けて、 most/much talked-aboutで、 「最も話題の」、「話でもちきりで」となります。
なお記事は、絵画市場にオイルマネー（古い！）を武器に中東産油国の参入が激しいことと中国も高額絵画以下のものを買い付けに走っており、市場がこうした新興勢力へとシフトしていっていることが述べられています。（UG）