Art world is a fascinating place, it amaze us by its appearance and sometimes by the monetary value they posses.
Stay amazed!!!
Here a list of 20 most expensive painting sold so far. Update your art knowledge and share this love with others.
#
20. $75.1 million. No 1 (Royal Red and Blue) by Mark Rothko, 2012.
The
majestic canvas was one of eight works hand-selected by Rothko for his landmark
solo show of the same year at the Art Institute of Chicago
#19.
$76.7 million. Massacre of the innocents by Peter Paul Ruben, 1610.
Bought
by Kenneth Thompson at Sotheby’s London, July 2002. The flamboyant and dramatic
work by Rubens – though recently some voices discussing its authenticity have
been heard could also fight for the title of „most unexpected success“:
Christie’s had estimated its price at a mere £5 million.
#18.
$78,100,000. Pierre-Auguste Renoir – Le Moulin de la Galette.
At
the time of its sale in 1990, it was the second most expensive painting ever
sold. This masterpiece even went to the same person that bought number one at
the time, Daishowa Paper Manufacturing Co. chairman Ryoei Saito. Again, he
wanted this one cremated with him as well, but his companies ran into problems
with loans and debt so it had to be sold on as collateral.
#17.
$80 million. Turquoise Marilyn by Andy Warhol, 1964-2007.
Bought
by Mr. Steve Cohen, the price was not confirmed but is generally accepted to be
true.
#16.
$80,000,000. Jasper Johns – False Start.
Another
painting formerly owned by Geffen and allegedly sold to CEO of the Citadel
Investment Group, Kenneth C. Griffin, making it the most expensive painting to
be sold by a living artist, the iconic Jasper Johns.
#15.
$82,500,000. Vincent van Gogh – Portrait of Dr. Gachet.
Up
for auction in 1990 and purchased by Japanese businessman Ryoei Saito, this was
– at the time- the most expensive painting in the world. Saito (then 75) caused
controversy at the time, stating that when he died, he’d have the painting
cremated along with him. This was later cleared up as he claimed that he was
only using the expression to show his intense affection for it.
#14.
$86,300,000. Francis Bacon – Triptych, 1976.
Breaking
the previous sale record of his work ($52.68 million), Bacon’s 3-piece
masterpiece was sold to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, smashing the
previous estimate of $70 million.
#13.
$87,900,000. Gustav Klimt – Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II.
The only model to be
painted twice by Klimt and sold a few months after the first version, this
portrait of Bloch-Bauer was part of a lot in 2006 of four Klimt paintings that
went on to fetch a total of $192 million. Buyer unknown. Click Here and go
compare other paintings by Gustav Klimt.
#12.
$95,200,000. Pablo Picasso – Dora Maar au Chat.
Another
Picasso, the second highest price ever fetched at auction, and another
anonymous buyer. Auctioned in 2006, a mysterious Russian bidder took this home
(along with a Monet and a Chagall, spending over $100 million) and no one has
since found out who he was. The ownership of the painting has still not been
made public.
#11.
$104,200,000. Pablo Picasso – Garçon à la pipe.
So
far the highest price a painting has ever fetched at auction (as the others
were all sold privately), and was the first painting to break the $100 million
barrier (it was sold in 2004, whilst 1-3 were all in 2006). The strange thing
is that it was never made public as to who expressed such an interest in
Picasso’s portrait of a smoking Parisian.
#10.
$105.4 million. Silver Car Crash [Double Disaster] by Andy Warhol, 1932.
The
most expensive work by the most famous legend of Pop Art, Andy Warhol’s
monumental „Silver Car Crash“ was the star of the Contemporary Art evening sale
at Sotheby’s.
#9.
$106.5 million. Nude, Green Leaves and Bust by Pablo Picasso, 1932.
This
sensual and colorful masterpiece is the most expensive work by Picasso ever
sold at auction. The work, formerly in the collection of Mrs. Sidney F. Brody,
had been never exhibited in public since 1961.
#8.
$110 million. Flag by Jasper Johns, 1958
„Flags“
are Jasper Johns most famous works. The artist painted his first American flag
in 1954–55, a work now at the MoMA.
#7.
$119.9 million. The Scream by Edvard Munch, 1895
This
iconic work was the most expensive painting ever sold at auction until it was
surpassed by Bacon’s „Three Studies of Lucian Freud“. The work is the most
colorful of the four versions of Edvard Munch’s masterpiece „The Scream“, and
the only one still in private hands.
#6.
$135,000,000. Gustav Klimt – Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I.
This
was sold by Maria Altmann, who – after a lengthy and complicated court battle –
was deemed rightful owner of this Klimt and several others. Altmann was named
as an inheritor of the painting in the will of by the widowed husband of the
model herself, despite the efforts of the Austrian State, as Adele Bloch-Bauer
had originally left the painting to the State Gallery in her own will. The
painting was bought by Ronald Lauder for his Neue Galerie in New York, to be
the centerpiece of a collection of Jewish-owned art rescued from the Nazi looting
that took place in the Second World War.
#5.
$137,500,000. Willem de Kooning – Woman III.
Another
painting sold by Geffen in 2006, but this time bought by billionaire Steven A.
Cohen. It is part of a series of 6 painted by de Kooning in the period of
1951-53, which revolved around the theme of a woman, and is allegedly the only
Woman still in private hands.
#4.
$140,000,000. Jackson Pollock – No.5, 1948.
It
is claimed by the New York Times that this painting was sold by David Geffen
(of Geffen Records), to David Martinez (managing partner of Fintech Advisory).
However, a press release issued on behalf of Martinez states that he didn’t
actually purchase the painting. So the truth is shrouded in mystery, and it can
only be rumored to have sold for a record-breaking $140 million.
#3.
$142,4 million. Three Studies of Lucian Freud by Francis Bacon, 1969.
Not
only the most expensive painting ever auctioned, but also a record for a
contemporary work of art. Christie’s explained that when this work was painted,
„the relationship between Freud and Bacon was at its apex“.
#2.
$155 million. La Rêve (The Dream) by Pablo Picasso, 1932.
„La
Rêve (The Dream)“ is one of Picasso’s most sensual and famous paintings,
depicting her lover Marie-Therese Walter sitting on a red armchair with her
eyes closed. In 2006, Steve Wynn agreed to sell the painting to Steven Cohen
for $139 million, but the sale was cancelled when Mr. Wynn accidentally damaged
the work.
#1.
$250 million. The Card Players by Paul Cézanne,2011.
The exact price of The Card
Players (even the currency of sale) is not known, with estimates from $259
million to even $320 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. Keep
in mind though guys, the Royal Family of Qatar didn’t buy the series – they
bought just that one painting for ~259 million). The series is considered by
critics to be a cornerstone of Cézanne’s art during the early-to-mid 1890s
period, as well as a „prelude“ to his final years, when he painted some of his
most acclaimed work.The models for the paintings were local farm hands, some of
whom worked on the Cézanne family estate, the Jas de Bouffan. Each scene is
depicted as one of quiet, still concentration; the men look down at their cards
rather than at each other, with the
cards being perhaps their sole means of communication outside of work. One
critic described the scenes as „human still life“, while another speculated
that the men’s intense focus on their game mirrors that of the painter’s
absorption in his art.
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