MOST EXPENSIVE PAINTINGS
Prices are in millions of 2008 US dollars. Where necessary, the price is first converted to dollars using the exchange rate at the time the painting was sold. A list in another currency would probably in a slightly different order due to exchange rate fluctuations.
The world’s most famous paintings, especially works done before 1800, are generally owned by museums, which very rarely sell them, and as such, they are literally priceless.
Guinness World Records lists the Mona Lisa as having the highest insurance value for a painting in history. It was assessed at US$100 million on December 14, 1962, before the painting toured the U.S. for several months. However, the Louvre Museum chose to spend the money that would have veen spent on the insurance premium
on security instead. Taking inflation into account, the 1962 value would be approximately US$670 million in 2006.
Source: wikipedia.org
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Original Price (in millions):$140 Painting: No. 5, 1948 Year: 1948 Artist: Jackson Pollock Year of sale: 2006 Buyer: David Martinez ? Seller: David Geffen Auction House: Private sale |
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Original Price (in millions):$137.5 Painting: Woman III Year: 1953 Artist: Willem de Kooning Year of sale: 2006 Buyer: Steven A. Cohen Seller: David Geffen Auction House: Private sale |
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Original Price (in millions):$135 Painting: Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I Year: 1907 Artist: Gustav Klimt Year of sale: 2006 Buyer: Ronald Lauder, Neue Galerie Seller: Maria Altmann Auction House: Private sale |
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Original Price (in millions):$106.5 Painting: Nu au plateau de sculpteur Year: 1932 Artist: Pablo Picasso Year of sale: 2010 Buyer: ? Seller: Frances and Sidney Brody Auction House: Christie’s New York |
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Original Price (in millions):$104,2 Painting: Garcon a la pipe Year: 1905 Artist: Pablo Picasso Year of sale: 2004 Buyer: Seller: Greentree Foundation Auction House: Sothebey’s, New York |
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Original Price (in millions):$95,2 Painting: Dora Maar au Chat Year: 1941 Artist: Pablo Picasso Year of sale: 2006 Buyer: Seller: Gidwitz Family Auction House: Sotheby’s, New York |
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Original Price (in millions):$87,9 Painting: Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II Year: 1912 Artist: Gustav Klimt Year of sale: 2006 Buyer: Seller: Maria Altmann Auction House: Christie’s, New York |
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Original Price (in millions):$86,3 Painting: Triptych Year: 1976 Artist: Francis Bacon Year of sale: 2008 Buyer: Roman Abramovich Seller: Auction House: Sotheby’s, New York |
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Original Price (in millions):$82,5 Painting: Portrait of Dr. Gachet Year: 1890 Artist: Vincent Van Gogh Year of sale: 1990 Buyer: Ryoei Saito Seller: Siegfried Kramarsky Family Auction House: Christie’s, New York |
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Original Price (in millions):$80,4 (£40,9) Painting: Le Bassin aux Nymphéas Year: 1919 Artist: Claude Monnet Year of sale: 2008 Buyer: Seller: J. Irwin and X.S. Miller Auction House: Christie’s, London |
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Original Price (in millions):$80 Painting: False Start Year: 1959 Artist: Jasper Johns Year of sale: 2006 Buyer: Kenneth C. Griffin Seller: David Geffen Auction House: Private sale via Richard Gary |
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Original Price (in millions):$78.1 Painting: Bal au moulin de la Galette Montmartre Year: 1876 Artist: Auguste Renoir Year of sale: 1990 Buyer: Ryoei Saito Seller: Betsey Whitney Auction House: Sothebey’s, New York |
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Original Price (in millions):$76.7 (£ 49,5) Painting: Massacre of the Innocents Year: 1611 Artist: Peter Paul Rubens Year of sale: 2002 Buyer: Kenneth Thomson Seller: an Austrian Family Auction House: Sotheby’s, London |
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Original Price (in millions):$72,8 Painting: White Center Year: 1950 Artist: Mark Rothko Year of sale: 2007 Buyer: Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani Seller: David Rockefeller Sr. Auction House: Sotheby’s, New York |
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Original Price (in millions):$71,7 Painting: Crash (Green Burning Car I) Year: 1963 Artist: Andy Warhol Year of sale: 2007 Buyer: Seller: Private collection, Switzerland Auction House: Christie’s, New York |
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Original Price (in millions):$71,5 Painting: Portrait de l’artiste sans barbe Year: 1889 Artist: Vincent van Gogh Year of sale: 1998 Buyer: Seller: heirs of Jacques Koerfer Auction House: Christie’s, New York |
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Original Price (in millions):$70,6 (£50) Painting: Diana and Actaeon Year: 1556-1559 Artist: Titian Year of sale: 2009 Buyer: National Gallery of Scotland and London Seller: Duke of Sutherland Auction House: Private sale |
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Original Price (in millions):$63,5 Painting: Police Gazette Year: 1955 Artist: Willem de Kooning Year of sale: 2006 Buyer: Steven A. Cohen Seller: David Geffen Auction House: Private sale, Richard Gray Gallery |
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Original Price (in millions):$60,5 Painting: Rideau, Cruchon et Compotier Year: 1894 Artist: Paul Cézanne Year of sale: 1999 Buyer: Seller: Whitney Family Auction House: Sotheby’s, New York |
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Original Price (in millions):$58 plus exchange of works Painting: Portrait of Joseph Roulin Year: 1889 Artist: Vincent van Gogh Year of sale: 1998 Buyer: Museum of Modern Art, New York Seller: Swiss private collection Auction House: Private sale via Thomas Ammann Fine Art Zurich |
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Original Price (in millions):$57 Painting: Wheatfield with Cypresses Year: 1889 Artist: Vincent van Gogh Year of sale: 1993 Buyer: Walter H. Annenberg Seller: son of Emil Georg Buhrle Auction House: Private sale via Steven Mazoh |
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Original Price (in millions):$55 Painting: Femme aux Bras Croisés Year: 1902 Artist: Pablo Picasso Year of sale: 2000 Buyer: Seller: McCormick Family Auction House: Christie’s, New York |
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Original Price (in millions):$53,9 Painting: Irises Year: 1889 Artist: Vincent van Gogh Year of sale: 1987 Buyer: Alan Bond Seller: son of Joan Whitney Payson Auction House: Sotheby’s, New York |
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Original Price (in millions):$49,6 Painting: Femme assise dans un jardin Year: 1938 Artist: Pablo Picasso Year of sale: 1999 Buyer: Seller: Robert Saidenberg Auction House: Sotheby’s, New York |
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Original Price (in millions):$49,3 (Ffr 300) Painting: Les Noces de Pierette Year: 1905 Artist: Pablo Picasso Year of sale: 1989 Buyer: Tomonori Tsurumaki Seller: Fredrik Roos Auction House: Binoche et Godeau, Paris |
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Original Price (in millions):$48,4 Painting: Le Rêve Year: 1932 Artist: Pablo Picasso Year of sale: 1997 Buyer: Wolfgang Flottl Seller: Ganz Family Auction House: Christie’s, New York |
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Original Price (in millions):$47,85 Painting: Yo, Picasso Year: 1901 Artist: Pablo Picasso Year of sale: 1989 Buyer: Stavros Niarchos Seller: Wendell Cherry Auction House: Sotheby’s, New York |
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Original Price (in millions):$47,5 Painting: Peasant Woman Against Year: 1890 Artist: Vincent van Gogh Year of sale: 1997 Buyer: Stephen Wynn Seller: Auction House: Private sale via |
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Original Price (in millions):$40,7 Painting: Au Lapin Agile Year: 1904 Artist: Pablo Picasso Year of sale: 1989 Buyer: Walter H. Annenberg Seller: daughter of Joan Whitney Payson Auction House: Sotheby’s, New York |
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Original Price (in millions):$39,7 (£ 24,75) Painting: Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers Year: 1888 Artist: Vincent van Gogh Year of sale: 1987 Buyer: Yasuo Goto Seller: daughter-in-law of Chester Beatty Auction House: Christie’s, London |
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Original Price (in millions):$38,5 (£ 20,9) Painting: Acrobate et jeune Arlequin Year: 1905 Artist: Pablo Picasso Year of sale: 1988 Buyer: Mitsukoshi Seller: heir of Roger Janssen Auction House: Christie’s, London |
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Original Price (in millions):$35,2 Painting: Portrait of a Halberdier Year: 1537 Artist: Pontormo Year of sale: 1989 Buyer: Getty Museum Seller: Chauncey Deveraux Stillman Auction House: Christie’s, New York |