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Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi,Photo sourced from Wikimedia
15 Most expensive paintings of all time
Paintings are a form of visual art that captures the expression of ideas and emotions on a two-dimensional surface. Artists use the elements of shape, colors, line, tones, and textures in unique ways to produce paintings that convey sensations of movement, volume, space, and light – traditionally on a flat surface.
The choices of the medium and the form, as well as the artist’s own technique, combine to realize a unique visual image.Though most works of art which can be found in museums and private collections around the world are priceless some have found their way to become priced and have gotten some of the hugest fees the world has ever seen. Let’s take a look at some of the most expensive paintings if all time;
1.Mona Lisa- Leonardo da Vinci- $870 million
Mona Lisa by Leornardo Da Vinci Photo sourced from Wikimedia
Mona Lisa is a half-length portrait painting by Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. Considered an archetypal masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance, it has been described as “the best known, the most visited, the most written about, the most sung about, the most parodied work of art in the world”.
The painting’s novel qualities include the subject’s enigmatic expression, the monumentality of the composition, the subtle modelling of forms, and the atmospheric illusionism.It had been believed to have been painted between 1503 and 1506; however, Leonardo may have continued working on it as late as 1517. It was acquired by King Francis I of France and is now the property of the French Republic.
It has been on permanent display at the Louvre in Paris since 1797. Though it has been rated as priceless, The Mona Lisa is one of the most valuable paintings in the world. It holds the Guinness World Record for the highest-known painting insurance valuation in history at US$100 million in 1962 (equivalent to $870 million in present day).
2.Salvator Mundi – Leonardo da Vinci – $450.3 Million
Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi,Photo sourced from Wikimedia
Salvator Mundi is a painting of Jesus Christ as Salvator Mundi meaning Christ as Savior of the World. The painting was made by Leonardo da Vinci, and is dated around 1500. It shows Jesus Christ dressed in Renaissance garb and bestowing a blessing, with his right hand raised with two fingers crossed while holding a crystal ball in his left hand.
The painting became the most expensive painting of all time when it was sold for $ 450,312,500 on November 15, 2017, in New York during an auction by the Christie’s. The painting has been sold to several people over the years including Alexander Parish in 2005 for $10,000,In 2013 Yves Bouvier bought the painting for $70 million from Sothebys, and then sold it to Dmitry Rybolovlev for $127 million, who then sold it for $450 million at Christies.
The painting was purchased by Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism for display at the Louvre Abu Dhabi. In September 2018, the exhibition was indefinitely postponed leading to questions on the where about of the painting. To date, we still don’t know the exact location of the painting since it hasn’t been seen since it left the auction block, but it’s rumored to be aboard Prince Mohammad Bin Salman’s luxury yacht, the Serene.
3.Interchange- Willem de Kooning- $328 Million
Interchange by William DeConing Photo sourced from Wikimedia
Interchange is an abstract painting by Willem de Kooning. The Dutch-American painter completed the artwork in 1955, which was a move away from his usual artwork that depicted women, towards something rather different in the form of an urban landscape. The painting was sold for $300 million in 2015 to an American entrepreneur, Kenneth C. Griffin
It was completed in 1955 and reflects a transition in de Kooning’s painting technique due the influence of artist Franz Kline, who inspired de Kooning to paint with quickly made gestural marks as opposed to violent brush strokes. The painting features a fleshy pink mass at its center, representing a seated woman.
It has been sold severally over the years initially sold for $4,000 to architect Edgar Kaufmann Jr. by De Kooning. It was later sold to Japanese art dealer Shigeki Kameyama, owner of the Mountain Tortoise Gallery in Tokyo, for $20.7 million, setting a then-record price for a living artist.Before it was sold in September 2015, for $300 million to hedge fund manager and billionaire Kenneth C. Griffin.
4.The Card Players- Paul Cézanne- $288 Million
The Card Players is a series of oil paintings by the French Post-Impressionist artist Paul Cézanne. Painted during Cézanne’s final period in the early 1890s, there are five paintings in the series. The versions vary in size, the number of players, and the setting in which the game takes place. Cézanne also completed numerous drawings and studies in preparation for The Card Players series.
French artist Paul Cézanne produced 5 paintings in the series during the 1890s. One of these paintings was sold for $250 million to the Royal Family of Qatar during 2011. Making it one of the most expensive paintings to be ever sold. The exact dates of the paintings are uncertain, but it is long believed Cézanne began with larger canvases and pared down in size with successive versions, though research in recent years has cast doubt on this assumption.
5. Nafea Faa Ipoipo (When Will You Marry?)- Paul Gauguin- $210 million
Paul Gauguin’s Nafea Faa Ipoipo? Photo sourced from Wikimedia
Nafea faa ipoipo (When Will You Marry?) is an oil painting from 1892 by the French Post-Impressionist artist Paul Gauguin. On loan to the Kunstmuseum in Basel, Switzerland for nearly a half-century, it was sold privately by the family of Rudolf Staechelin to Sheikha Al-Mayassa bint Hamad Al-Thani, in February 2015 for close to US$210 million (£155 million), one of the highest prices ever paid for a work of art.
The painting was on exhibition at the Fondation Beyeler, Riehen, until 28 June 2015.The painting represents two women in a natural landscape, one in a native dress and the other in a colonial-style mission dress that symbolizes the fusion of Polynesian and European cultures. It is one of the most expensive paintings of all time.
6.Number 17A – Jackson Pollock – $200 Million
Number 17A is an abstract expressionist painting by Jackson Pollock. It is owned by hedge fund manager Kenneth C. Griffin, who purchased it in September 2015 from David Geffen for $200 million, a then record-breaking price, at which time it was loaned to the Art Institute of Chicago. As of September 2022, it is ranked 6th on the list of most expensive paintings.Number 17A is an oil on fiberboard making it a good example of drip painting. It was painted a year after Jackson Pollock introduced his famous drip technique.
The abundance of paint creates a complex color vortex where the top and bottom layers are impossible to differentiate. Smudges of yellow, blue, and black on the fiberboard help soften the image, while three nearly-parallel white brushstrokes grab the attention of many. This 1948 piece was featured in a 1949 Life magazine article that helped make Jackson Pollock a household name. In August 1949, Life magazine ran a feature story posing the question: “Jackson Pollock: Is he the greatest living painter in the United States?”.
7.No. 6 (Violet, Green and Red) – Mark Rothko – $186 Million
No. 6 (Violet, Green and Red) is a painting by the Latvian-American abstract expressionist artist Mark Rothko. It was painted in 1951. In common with Rothko’s other works from this period, No. 6 consists of large expanses of colour delineated by uneven, hazy shades. In 2014, it became one of the most expensive paintings sold at auction. In 1951, Rothko painted a work whose main goal, like that of his other paintings, was to serve as an appeal to man’s primary emotions.
No.6 (Violet, Green and Red) is one of the works implicated in the infamous Bouvier Affair. It was privately bought for €186 million by Dmitry Rybolovlev in 2014. Rybolovlev is thought to have bought the painting via the Swiss dealer, Bouvier. Rybolovlev learnt that Bouvier had actually bought the painting (rather than simply acting as a dealer) from Paiker H.B. for ~€80,000,000 before selling it on to Rybolovlev for €186,000,000
8.Pendant portraits of Maerten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit – Rembrandt – $180 Million
Pendant portraits of Maerten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit Photo sourced from Wikimedia
The pendant portraits of Marten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit are a pair of full-length wedding portraits by Rembrandt. They were painted on the occasion of the marriage of Marten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit in 1634. Formerly owned by the Rothschild family, they became jointly owned by the Louvre Museum and the Rijksmuseum in 2015 after both museums managed to contribute half of the purchase price, a record for works by Rembrandt.
The Portrait of Marten Soolmans and Portrait of Oopjen Coppit , a pair, were bought for $180 million each. Since they were a couple, it made sense that they would always be exhibited together. However, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and the Louvre in Paris jointly purchased these two works and will take turns displaying these valuable paintings so that the masses can finally see them in person.
9.Les Femmes d’ Alger (“Version O”) – Pablo Picasso – $179.4 Million
Les Femmes d’Alger (English: Women of Algiers) is a series of 15 paintings and numerous drawings by the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso. The series, created in 1954–1955, was inspired by Eugene Delacroix’s 1834 painting The Women of Algiers in their Apartment. The series is one of several painted by Picasso in tribute to artists that he admired.
The colorful display of geometric shapes and angles inspired by the orientalist painting The Women of Algiers in their Apartment by Eugene Delacroix, Les Femmes D’Alger (Version ‘O’) of the cubist brain Pablo Picasso sold for an incredible $ 179.4 million in May 2015 at a Christie’s auction. Throughout his career, Picasso painted 15 different versions of this particular work: “O” was the last version, completed in 1955.
10.Nu couché – Amedeo Modigliani – $170.4 Million
Nu Couche , also known as the Red Nude or the Reclining Nude, is a 1917 oil painting on canvas by Italian painter Amedeo Modigliani. Considered the most important work of the artist, it is a perfect fusion of classical idealism and modern sensuality. The image of the naked woman lying on the sofa seems erotically realistic but has a surreal, almost sublime beauty that surprises the viewer.
The painting was included in a 2017/2018 Tate Modern exhibition of Modigliani’s works. The painting was sold by auction by Sotheby’s in April 2018. Writing in The Guardian, British arts journalist Jonathan Jones compared it to Ingres’ 1814 work Grande Odalisque. Amedeo Modigliani was deeply influenced by Renaissance art having grown up in Italy, but chose to spend almost the entirety of his career in Paris. Inspired by the work of Brancusi and the Fauves, he developed a highly personal technique of stylized elongated forms.
11.Masterpiece – Roy Lichtenstein – $165 Million
Masterpiece is a 1962 pop art painting by Roy Lichtenstein that uses his classic Ben-Day dots and narrative content contained within a speech balloon which is one off the most unique method. The source of this image was a comic book panel with the two subjects positioned similarly to their position here, but they were situated in an automobile. In the source image the narrative content of the speech balloon said “But someday the bitterness will pass…”
In January 2017, the painting which is among the 15 most expensive painting of all time after it was sold by the artist Agnes Gund (1962 painting Masterpiece which for years hung over the mantle of her Upper East Side apartment) for $165 million by Steven Cohen. The proceeds of the sale will be used to start a fund for criminal justice reform call’s for justice.
12.Le Rêve – Pablo Picasso – $155 Million
Le Rêve (English: The Dream) is a 1932 oil on canvas painting (130 × 97 cm) by Pablo Picasso, then 50 years old, portraying his 22-year-old mistress Marie-Thérèse Walter. It is said to have been painted in one afternoon, on 24 January 1932. It belongs to Picasso’s period of distorted depictions, with its oversimplified outlines and contrasted colors resembling early cubism. The erotic content of the painting has been noted repeatedly, with critics pointing out that Picasso painted an erect penis, presumably symbolizing his own, in the upturned face of his model.
On 26 March 2013, the painting was sold in a private sale for $155 million, making it one of the most expensive paintings ever sold. Ignoring inflation, the price was estimated to be the highest ever paid for an artwork by a U.S. collector until Kenneth C. Griffin’s ~$300 million purchase of Willem de Kooning’s Interchange in September 2015. The painting was also once the centerpiece of Wynn’s collection and he had considered naming his Wynn Las Vegas resort after it. During a period of anti-French sentiment in the United States in response to France’s opposition to the United States’ proposed invasion of Iraq, Wynn decided it was inadvisable to give the resort a French name.
13.Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II – Gustav Klimt – $150 Million
Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II is a 1912 painting by Gustav Klimt. The work is a portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer. Bloch-Bauer (1881–1925) was a Vienna socialite, who was a patron and close friend of Klimt. In 1907, Klimt completed an earlier portrait of Bloch-Bauer. During World War II, both portraits were among the artworks stolen by the Nazis from the descendants of Bloch-Bauer. After the war, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II was displayed at the Osterreichische Galerie Belvedere until 2006, when it was returned to Adele Bloch-Bauer’s niece.
During the summer of 2016, Oprah Winfrey who had bought the painting early in 2006 for $88 million from Adele Bloch-Bauer’s niece, sold it to an unidentified Chinese buyer for $150 million. The painting was temporarily lent to Neue Galerie New York for the exhibition “Klimt and the Women of Vienna’s Golden Age, 1900–1918.”It was rated among the most expensive paintings of all time.
14.Three Studies of Lucian Freud – Francis Bacon – $142.4 Million
Three Studies of Lucian Freud is a 1969 oil-on-canvas triptych by the Irish-born British painter Francis Bacon, depicting artist Lucian Freud. It was sold in November 2013 for US$142.4 million, which at the time was the highest price attained at auction for a work of art when not factoring in inflation. That record was surpassed in May 2015 by Version O of Picasso’s Les Femmes d’Alger series. All three panels, in Bacon’s typical abstract, distorted, isolated style, show Freud sitting on a cane-bottomed wooden chair within a cage, on a curved mottled-brown surface with a solid orange background.
Behind each figure is a headboard of a bed, originating in a set of photographs of Freud by John Deakin which Bacon used as a reference. Michael Peppiatt writes “Trapped here in a series of Baconian cages, a contorted Freud hovers from panel to panel like a coiled spring about to shoot out of the flat, airless picture plane.” The central panel portrays the figure face on, in a pose similar to that Bacon used for George Dyer, his lover. Brett Gorvy of Christie’s considers the work to represent “a marriage of the incredibly important people in Bacon’s life.” The three canvases of the triptych are the same size and are each individually framed. The colouring is brighter than is typical of Bacon’s works.
15.NO. 5,1948 – Jackson Pollock – $140 Million
No. 5, 1948 is a painting by Jackson Pollock, an American painter known for his contributions to the abstract expressionist movement. It was sold on 22 May 2006 for $140 million, a new mark for highest ever price for a painting, not surpassed until April 2011.The painting was created on fibreboard, also known as composition board, measuring 8’ x 4’. For the paint, Pollock chose to use liquid paints.More specifically, they were synthetic resin paints (gloss enamel) but are referred to as oil paints for classification of the work.
On inspection it was grey, brown, white and yellow paint drizzled in a way that many people still perceive as a “dense bird’s nest”. While numerous reports state that the very private Mexican financier David Martinez bought the work from Geffen, Martinez’s camp, along with experts in the art world, have denied that he purchased the work.
An artist’s decision to use a particular medium, such as tempera, fresco, oil, acrylic, watercolour or other water-based paints, ink and gouache, as well as the choice of a particular form, such as mural, easel, panel, miniature and manuscript, is based on the sensuous qualities and the expressive possibilities and limitations of those options.
