The Most Expensive Paintings of All Time

Art is priceless, but the most famous paintings in history, made by the best artists of all time, have been bought at auction by wealthy princes and entrepreneurs. We compiled together the ten most expensive artworks in history below, and would like to share some information of the buyers who often want to be anonymous.

 

1. Salvator Mundi Painted by Leonardo da Vinci in 1490–1500

The famous oil painting by Leonardo da Vinci, Salvator Mundi depicts the image of Jesus Christ half-length holding a transparent sphere and his right hand raised in a sign of blessing.

It has become the most expensive all-time oil painting sold to a private individual for a total price of $450.3 million from the Christie's auction house in New York. The owner would be the Saudi prince Bader Bin Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Farhan al Saud. The sale of this artwork had remained shrouded in mystery because we do not know who was the real buyer until the New York Times discovered who was hiding behind. He is the lowest rank of the royal family and works in business. He is a close friend and was a university partner of the Saudi throne Mohammed Bin Salman.

 

2. Interchange Painted by Willem de Kooning in 1955

After the painting by da Vinci, here comes another contemporary artwork Interchange. It remains one of the most expensive paintings sold for a value of about 300 million dollars.

It is a masterpiece of abstract expressionist art, sold for the first time in 1955, shortly after its completion, at the price of 4,000 dollars to architect Edgar Kaufmann Jr. Later the painting was sold at Sotheby's in New York in November 1989, and the work was resold in September 2015 during a private sale in Chicago by David Geffen Foundation. The buyer would be the hedge-fund mogul Ken Griffin, who paid an astronomical price for the opera.

This painting made in the period in which the artist had concentrated on revising the study of the female abstract figure.

 

3. The Card Players Painted by Paul Cézanne in 1892/93

Card Players is an oil painting on canvas made between 1890 and 1895, and Paul Cézanne created five different versions.

It was sold at a price of 19 million dollars a draft of the work in the spring of 2012 and one of the final versions was sold in 2011 to the royal family of Qatar by the heirs of the Greek shipowner George Embricos for a value of 250 million dollars. If we give an analysis of this masterpiece, we can see a distortion of perspective in the environment in which the two players is located. It had been specially created to ensure that things are never in a state of perfect balance as the artist had claimed.

 

4. When will you marry? Painted by Paul Gauguin in 1892

When will you marry? depicts two Tahitian women sitting outdoors and remain one of the most expensive paintings in the world. The artwork was created during the last years of travel to the artist's Tahiti to research his creativity. It was exhibited in France in 1893 but at the time it was not very successful and no buyer found. Till February 2015, it was sold at a record $300 million at Sotheby's in New York. The vendors have not confirmed who bought it, but it is believed that the buyer belongs to the royal family of Qatar. The contract and the sale of the work took place in January 2016 after a series of exhibitions in Madrid and Washington.

 

5. Water snakes II Painted by Gustav Klimt in 1907

Water snakes II is a masterpiece of abstract painting created with mixed media between 1904 and 1907. Female nudes are depicted in a curved and wavy form.

According to the article by Katia Kazakina from the Bloomberg, the work was sold for a value of 170 million dollars in 2015 by the Russian billionaire Dimitri Rybolovlev to an Asian buyer who remained anonymous. So it remains in a private collection.

In work, we can see the essential mosaic-shaped components, the gold color and some abstract elements depicting the myth of the serpent woman.

6. No. 6 (Violet, Green, and Red) Painted by Mark Rothko in 1951

Another work sold at a record number is No.6 which represented a milestone of abstract expressionism. The buyer would be the Russian entrepreneur and owner of Monaco Dimitry Rybolovlev and bought this canvas in 2014 for the price of 186 million dollars. It seems that he got the painting from a private sale that took place in the Château Pétrus wine estate by the owners Christian and Cherise Moueix through the Swiss retailer Bouvier. Previously Bouvier had bought the painting at a price of 80 million euros.

This artist was instead recognized for his color creations characterized by rectangular shapes with soft edges that can capture the viewer's attention.

 

7. Les Femmes d’Alger Painted by Pablo Picasso in 1955

Les Femmes d'Alger is a famous painting created by Pablo Picasso with oil on canvas technique. Represents the latest version of this series of paintings and we can see the geometric and angular shapes without recognizing the faces to the meaning of the woman depicted on the left.

In May 2015 the picture was sold at the record figure for that period of 179, 4 million dollars from the Christie's auction house in New York. In the beginning, the valuation was of 140 million dollars, and the offers would have happened by telephone through the intermediaries that were present in the auction house. The owner has remained anonymous, so there are no reliable sources of who the real buyer of the painting is.

 

8. Nu Couché (Reclining Nude) Painted by Amedeo Modigliani in 1917

This painting, one of the most famous paintings by Amedeo Modigliani, which was sold for 157 million dollars during the transaction organized by Sotheby's in New York. The work was done in 1917 by the master from Livorno and at the time caused an absolute scandal because it represents the most massive nude of the artist belonging to a series of female nudes. The French art dealer Léopold Zborowski commissioned it.

The sale price remained below record levels of $170 million paid in 2015 by Chinese billionaire Liu Yiqian to Christie's and had previously belonged to collectors Riccardo Gualino and Gianni Mattioli. The seller of Nu Couché was John Magnier, a thoroughbred breeder who had won the auction at a price of $ 26.9 million in 2003.

 

9. La Rêve (The Dream) Painted by Pablo Picasso in 1932

La Reve was another famous painting by Picasso and it was auctioned for a value of 155 million dollars. The owner of the art, the casino magnate Steve Wynn of Las Vegas, had damaged the canvas and after the restoration, he sold it at a higher price. The buyer would be Steven Cohen, the American hedge fund manager.

The protagonist of this work is the wife of Picasso and was portrayed in a different way than the other Cubist representations of the artist. Her shapes are not angular but slightly softer and rounder.

 

10. Adele Bloch-Bauer I Painted by Gustav Klimt in 1907

Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I depicts a woman who belonged to a wealthy family of industrials of Jewish origin. Klimt's aunt, Adele, was his muse and commissioned various paintings, and modeling for many portraits, such as this famous painting made in 1907. We can see the gold color that is the background chiseled finely with colored pieces.

This masterpiece is exhibited in New York at the Neue Galerie but has had to go through many tormenting events before arriving at its current location.

 

Here are the most expensive paintings in history. Sooner or later we will update the ranking because there are still many masterpieces on sale and wealthy patrons ready to have a real masterpiece in their private collection.