This year, however, the family headed further west and dropped anchor outside the remote Inuit town of Grise Fiord in the Canadian Arctic.

CNN: Arctic vagabonds: French family makes home on polar yacht

Mr. Olsen said he sold the work in order to fund a hotel and museum of Munch's work near the Norwegian fiord where the artist painted.

WSJ: Munch's 'The Scream' Sold to Financier Leon Black

Although Grise Fiord represents the most northerly civilian settlement in North America, Brossier explains that the town is still privy to the comforts of contemporary western life.

CNN: Arctic vagabonds: French family makes home on polar yacht

He is paid to measure the thickness of the winter ice, ocean currents and weather patterns in and around Grise Fiord for research institutions in Toronto and Vancouver.

CNN: Arctic vagabonds: French family makes home on polar yacht