List of most expensive paintings

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This is a list of the highest known prices paid for paintings. The earliest sale on the list ( Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers by Vincent van Gogh) is from 1987, and more than tripled the previous record price, set only two years before, introducing a new era in top picture prices. The sale was also significant in that for the first time a "modern" painting (in this case from 1888) became the record holder, as opposed to the old master paintings which had always previously held it. Since that time sales of the most valuable paintings have usually been made at auctions, though that had by no means always been the case before, and the list below still shows some "private sales", including the five most expensive. The current record price was paid for The Card Players by Paul Czanne, which was sold for more than $250 million in 2011. [1][2][3]
Contents [hide] 1 Background 2 Van Gogh and Picasso 3 List of highest prices paid at auctions or private sales (inflation adjusted) 4 See also 5 Notes 6 References 7 External links
The Card Players by Paul Czanne is currently the most expensive painting ever sold.

Background

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The world's most famous paintings, especially old master works done before 1800, are generally owned or held at museums, for viewing for patrons. The museums very rarely sell them, and as such, they are quite 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 United States for several months. However, the Louvre chose to spend the money that would have been spent on the insurance premium on security instead. Taking inflation into account, the 1962 value would be around US$772 million today. The earliest sale on the list below ( Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers by Vincent van Gogh) is from March 1987; with a price of 24.75 million ($82 million in current dollars) it tripled the previous record and introduced a new era in top art sales. Before this, the highest absolute price paid for a painting was 8.1 million ($23 million in current dollars) paid by the J. Paul Getty Museum for Mantegna's Adoration of the Magi at Christie's in London on April 18, 1985. [4] In constant dollars, the highest price paid before 1987 was by the National Gallery of Art when in February 1967 they acquired Leonardo da Vinci's Ginevra de' Benci for around $5 million ($35 million in current dollars) from the Princely Family of Liechtenstein. The sale of Van Gogh's Sunflowers was also significant in that for the first time a "modern" (in this case 1888) painting became the record holder, as opposed to the old master paintings which previously had dominated the market. In contrast, there are currently only six pre-1850 paintings among the top 43 listed.

Van Gogh and Picasso

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Vincent van Gogh and Pablo Picasso are by far the best represented artists in the list. Whereas Picasso became a wealthy man, Van Gogh (supposedly) sold only one painting in his lifetime, The Red Vineyard , for 400 Francs (about $1600 in 2011) to the impressionist painter and heiress Anna Boch. [5] His seven paintings in the list below alone were sold for over 712 million current dollars.

List of highest prices paid at auctions or private sales (inflation adjusted)

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This list is ordered by consumer price index inflation-adjusted value [note 1] ( in bold ) in millions of September 2013 United States dollars. Where necessary, the price is first converted to dollars using the exchange rate at the time the painting was sold. The inflation adjustment may change as recent inflation rates are often revised. A list in another currency may be in a slightly different order due to exchange rate fluctuations. Paintings are only listed once, i.e. for the highest price sold.
Adjusted price (in millions) Original price (in millions) Rank at sale Auction house

Painting

Image

Artist

Year

Date of sale

Seller

Buyer

$269.4

$259 + [note 2]

The Card Players

Paul 1892/93 April 2011 Czanne

George Embiricos

State of Qatar

Private sale
[1][2][3]

$162.7

$140

No. 5, 1948

Jackson Pollock

1948

November 2, 2006 1

David Geffen

David Martinez

Private sale via Sotheby's [6] Private sale via Larry Gagosian [7] Private sale [8]

$159.8

$137.5

Woman III

Willem de 1953 Kooning Pablo Picasso 1932

November 18, 2006 2

David Geffen

Steven A. Cohen

$155.9

$155

Le Rve

March 26, 2013

Steve Wynn

Steven A. Cohen

$155.8

$135

Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I

Gustav Klimt

1907

June 18, 2006

Maria Altmann

Ronald Lauder, Neue Galerie

Private sale via Christie's[9]

$149.5

$82.5

Portrait of Dr. Gachet

Vincent 1890 van Gogh

May 15, 1990

Siegfried Kramarsky family

Ryoei Saito. [note 3]

Christie's, New York

$142.4

$142.4

Three Studies of Lucian Freud

Francis Bacon

1969

November 12, 2013 7

Elaine Wynn, exwife of Steve Wynn [12]

Christie's, New York [13]

$141.5

$78.1

Bal du moulin de la Galette[note 4]

PierreAuguste Renoir

1876

May 17, 1990

Betsey Whitney

Ryoei Saito [note 5]

Sotheby's, New York

$129.0

$104.2

Garon la pipe

Pablo Picasso

1905

May 4, 2004

Greentree foundation (Whitney family)

Barilla Group?[14]

Sotheby's, New York[15]

$122.2

$119.9

The Scream [note 6]

Edvard Munch

1895

May 2, 2012

Petter Olsen

Leon Black [16]

Sotheby's, New York

$118.3

$110.0

Flag [note 7]

Jasper Johns Pablo Picasso

1954

March 2010

JeanChristophe Castelli Frances Lasker Brody estate

Steven A. Cohen

Private sale, estimated price [17] Christie's, New York[18]

$114.3

$106.5

Nude, Green Leaves and Bust

1932

May 4, 2010

$111 ++

$58 plus Portrait of Joseph exchange of [note 8] Roulin works

Vincent 1889 van Gogh

August 1, 1989

Private collection, Zrich

Museum of Modern Art New York

Private sale via Thomas Ammann, Fine Art Zurich [19] Sotheby's, New York[21] Sotheby's, New York

$110.1

$95.2

Dora Maar au Chat

Pablo Picasso

1941

May 3, 2006

Gidwitz family

Boris Ivanishvili [20]

$109.4

$53.9

Irises

Vincent 1889 van Gogh

November 11, 1987 1

son of Joan Whitney Payson

Alan Bond [note 9]

$108.1

$100.0 $105.7 (10,300) $105.4

Eight Elvises

Andy Warhol Barnett Newman Andy Warhol

1963

October 2008

10

Annibale Berlingieri DIC Corp.

Private sale via Philippe Sgalot[22] Private sale

[23][24][25]

$105.7 $105.4

Anna's Light Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster)

1968 1963

October 4, 2013

16

November 13, 2013 17

Sotheby's, New York [26]

$102.1

$87.9

Adele BlochBauer II

Gustav Klimt

1912

November 2, 2006 9

Maria Altmann

Christie's, New York

$102.1

$71.5

Portrait de l'artiste sans barbe

Vincent 1889 van Gogh

November 19, 1998 5

Heirs of Jacques Koerfer(de)

Christie's, New York

$99.7

$76.7 (49.5)

Massacre of the Innocents

Peter Paul Rubens Francis Bacon Jasper Johns

1611

July 10, 2002

an Austrian family

Kenneth Thomson [note 10]

Sotheby's, London

$93.3

$86.3

Triptych, 1976

1976

May 14, 2008

13

Moueix Family, Roman Chteau Abramovich [29] Ptrus[28] David Geffen

Sotheby's, New York[30]

$92.8

$80.0

False Start

1959

October 12, 2006

10

Private sale Kenneth C. Griffin via Richard Gray [31] Private sale Walter H. via Steven [note 11] Annenberg Mazoh Tomonori Tsurumaki Stavros Niarchos Binoche et Godeau Paris Sotheby's, New York Private sale via Larry Gagosian [33]

$92.6

$57

A Wheatfield with Cypresses

Vincent 1889 van Gogh

May 1993

son of Emil Georg Bhrle

$91.7 $90.5

$49.3 (F300) $47.85

Les Noces de Pierrette Yo, Picasso

Pablo Picasso Pablo Picasso Andy Warhol

1905 1901

November 30, 1989 3 May 9, 1989 2

Fredrik Roos(sv)[32] Wendell Cherry(de) Stefan Edlis

$90.1

$80.0

Turquoise Marilyn

1964

May 20, 2007

17

Steven A. Cohen

Portrait of Alfonso

$88.8

$70.0

d'Avalos, Marquis of Vasto, in Armor with a Page

Titian

1533

November 2003

10

AXA insurance Getty Museum company

Private sale via Herv Aaron [34][35]

$88.5

$86.9 $80.5 (40.9)

Orange, Red, Yellow Le Bassin aux Nymphas Rideau, Cruchon et Compotier [note 12]

Mark Rothko Claude Monet

1961

May 8, 2012

24

Estate of David Pincus J. Irwin and Xenia S. Miller

Christie's, New York[36] Christie's, London [37]

$86.2

1919

June 24, 2008

20

$85.2

$60.5

Paul 1894 Czanne

May 10, 1999

Whitney Family

Sotheby's, New York

$82.9

$39.7 (24.75)

Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers

Vincent 1888 van Gogh

March 30, 1987

daughter-inYasuo Goto, law of Chester Yasuda Comp. Beatty

Christie's, London

$82.0

$72.8

White Center (Yellow, Pink and Lavender on Rose) Green Car Crash (Green Burning Car I)

Mark Rothko

1950

May 15, 2007

21

David Rockefeller, Sr. Private collection, Zrich

Sheikh Hamad bin Sotheby's, Khalifa AlNew York[40] Thani [39] Christie's, New York[41]

$80.8

$71.7

Andy Warhol

1963

May 16, 2007

22

Philip Niarchos

$77.9

$70.6 (50)

Diana and Actaeon

Titian

1556 1559

February 1, 2009

26

Duke of Sutherland

National Galleries Private of Scotland & National Gallery, sale [42][43][44] London

$77.7

$75 (5060) [note 13]

Darmstadt Madonna

Hans Holbein

1526

July 12, 2011

29

Donatus, Hereditary Prince of Hesse

Reinhold Wrth

Private sale via Christoph Graf Douglas [45]

$77.0

$68

The Gross Clinic

Thomas Eakins

1875

April 12, 2007

21

Thomas Jefferson University

Philadelphia Museum of Art

Private sale. [46]

$76.0

$75.1

No 1 (Royal Red and Blue) Au Lapin Agile

Mark Rothko Pablo Picasso Pablo Picasso

1954

November 13, 2012 33

John and Anne Marion daughter of Joan Whitney Payson heir of Roger Janssen?
[note 15]

Sotheby's, New York [47] Walter H. Annenberg Sotheby's, New York Christie's, London

$75.7

$40.7

1904

November 27, 1989 5

$75.0

$38.5 (20.9)

Acrobate et jeune arlequin[note 14]

1905

November 28, 1988 3

Mitsukoshi

$74.0

$55.0

Femme aux Bras Croiss

Pablo Picasso

1902

November 8, 2000 13

McCormick family, Chicago

Christie's, New York[48]

$73.8

$69.0

Nude Sitting on a Divan ("La Belle Romaine")

Amedeo 1917 Modigliani

November 2, 2010 32

Halit C ng ll oglu[49]

Sotheby's, New York[50]

$73.7

$63.5

Police Gazette [51]

Willem de 1955 Kooning

October 12, 2006

20

David Geffen

Steven A. Cohen

Private sale via Richard Gray [31]

$73.2

$71.7 (45)

Diana and Callisto

Titian

1556 1559

March 2, 2012

36

Duke of Sutherland

National Galleries Private of Scotland & National Gallery, sale [52] London

$69.3

$47.5

Peasant Woman Against a Background of Wheat

Vincent 1890 van Gogh

1997

11

Steve Wynn[note 16]

Private sale via Acquavella Galleries Inc., New York[54]

$69.0

$49.6

Femme assise dans un jardin Eagle Standing on Pine Tree[56]

Pablo Picasso

1938

November 10, 1999 15

Robert Saidenberg [55] Hunan TV & Broadcast Intermediary Co [57]

Sotheby's, New York China Guardian Auctions Phillips de Pury & Company [58]

$67.9

$65.5 (425.5)

Qi Baishi

1946

May 22, 2011

38

Liu Yiqian

$67.8

$63.4

Men in Her Life

Andy Warhol

1962

November 8, 2010 37

Jose Mugrabi

$66.6

$35.2

Portrait of a Halberdier

Pontormo 1537

May 31, 1989

Chauncey Devereaux Stillman

Getty Museum

Christie's, New York

$66.1

$60.0

Suprematist Composition

Kazimir Malevich

1916

November 3, 2008 35

Heirs of Kazimir Malevich

Sotheby's, New York[59]

$64.4

$62.1 (402.5)

Zhichuan Resettlement[60]

Wang Meng

1350

June 4, 2011

42

Beijing Poly Auction

$63.9

$61.7

1949-A-No.1

Clyfford Still

1949

November 9, 2011 44

City and County of Denver

Sotheby's, New York[61]

See also

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Cultural Commodification List of most expensive sculptures

Notes

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1. ^ Using the U.S. Department Of Labor's CPI-U table , which represents the U.S. city average for all urban consumers. 2. ^ Exact price (even the currency of sale) is not known, with estimates from $259 million to even $300 million 3. ^ Reportedly, Gachet's portrait was privately resold to a European buyer in 1997 or 1998 for $65-$90 million through Sothebys[10][11] 4. ^ This is the small version of the painting; the large version is at Muse d'Orsay. 5. ^ Privately resold for ca. $50 million through Sothebys in 1997[11] 6. ^ One of two pastel versions; another two painted versions (and lithography) exist, all created by Munch 7. ^ Most expensive painting by a living artist 8. ^ The paintings transferred to the dealers include a late Monet entitled Corona (Water Lilies) from around 1920; Renoir's Reclining Nude of 1902, Kandinsky's Autumn Landscape, Murnau from 1908, and Picasso's Striped Bodice from September 1943. 9. ^ Alan Bond could not pay off the painting, and Irises was resold (probably for somewhat less) to the Getty Museum. 10. ^ Later in 2002, Thomson donated his private collection, including the Rubens, to the Art Gallery of Ontario [27] 11. ^ Annenberg donated it subsequently to the Metropolitan Museum of Art 12. ^ Steve Wynn, who bid on the painting at auction, privately acquired the work several months later from the unidentified buyer for an undisclosed, supposedly lower price. Kenneth Griffin acquired it in 2004 from Wynn. [38] 13. ^ Usually estimated at "over 50 M" or "between 50 and 60 million Euros". $75M would have been 53M on July 12, 2011. 14. ^ resold for 12m to Stavros Niarchos in 1993 15. ^ A Belgian banker and collector who bought it in 1939 for $18,000. His was the last name on the 1988 provenance list; painting came from "a private collection in Arizona" 16. ^ On Oct. 7, 2005, The New York Times reported that Steven Cohen bought van Gogh's "Peasant Woman Against a Background of Wheat" and Gauguin's "Bathers" (1903) from Steve Wynn for approximately $110 million, [53] though guesses range from $100-150 million. One or both of the paintings may thus occur higher on this list.

References
May 2011

[edit]
,4 $86.3m Bacon and the $33.6m Freud 30. ^ Lot description and auction details website. , The Art Newspaper, 1 June 2008 of "Triptych, 1976" at Sotheby's

1. ^ a b Art Media Agency (AMA), 250 M$, a new record for a painting? 2. ^ a b Stefan Koldehoff, Welt-online: Das Rtsel vom teuersten Bild aller Zeiten , 31 July 2011 (already mentions Qatar as most likely buyer)

3. ^ a b Peers, Alexandra (January 2012). "Qatar Purchases Czannes The Card Players for More Than $250 Million, Highest Price Ever for a Work of Art" . QuatarSale. Retrieved 2012-02-03. 4. ^ William Wilson, Getty Pays $10.5 Million For Painting Times, April 19, 1985 , New York

31. ^ a b Carol Vogel, Works by Johns and de Kooning Sell for $143.5 Million , The New york Times, October 12, 2006 32. ^ Judd Tully, Auction; `Blue' Picasso Breaks Record at $51.7 Million , The Washington Post, Dec 1, 1989 33. ^ Carol Vogel, Inside Art: Buying a Warhol 'Marilyn' , New York Times, 25 May 2007

5. ^ The Red Vineyard Painting at annaboch.com 6. ^ Carol Vogel, A Pollock Is Sold, Possibly for a Record Price , New York Times, November 2, 2006 7. ^ Carol Vogel, Landmark De Kooning Crowns Collection , New York Times, November 18, 2006 8. ^ Carol Vogel & Peter Lattman, $616 Million Poorer, Hedge Fund Owner Still Buys Art , New York Times, March 26, 2013 9. ^ Carol Vogel, Lauder Pays $135 Million, a Record, for a Klimt Portrait , New York Times, June 19, 2006 10. ^ ARTnews: The Most Wanted Works of Art 11. ^ a b artnet: the silent boom 12. ^ Carol Vogel, Buyer of $142.4 Million Bacon Triptych Identified as Elaine Wynn , New York Times, January 15, 2014 13. ^ Vogel, Carol (November 12, 2013). "Bacon's Study of Freud Sells for $142.4 Million" . The New York Times (The New York Times Company). Retrieved November 13, 2013. ^ Claire Foy-Smith, Who buys paintings for $104m? , BBC News Online, 6 May 2004 ^ Lot description and auction details of "Garon la pipe" at Sotheby's website. ^ Kelly Crow, An Art Mystery Solved: Mogul Is 'Scream' Buyer , The Wall Street Journal, July 11, 2012 ^ The New York Times Planting a Johns Flag in a Private Collection ^ Picasso piece sets record for art sold at auction , Reuters, May 5, 2010

34. ^ The Getty secures masterpiece portrait by Titian , a November 24, 2003 press release by the Getty Museum 35. ^ Will Bennett, The $70 million soldier , The Daily Telegraph, 23 February 2004 36. ^ Mark Rothko painting sets post-war auction record , The Daily Telegraph, 9 May 2012 37. ^ Lot description and auction details of "Le bassin aux nymphas" at Christie's website 38. ^ ARTnews: Cohen Buys Two Works from Wynn in $120M Deal 39. ^ Thornton, Sarah; Adam, Georgina (May 4, 2008). "Revealed: $72.8m Rockefeller Rothko has gone to Qatar" . The Art Newspaper 40. ^ Lot description and auction details of "White Center" at Sotheby's website. 41. ^ Lot description and auction details of "Green Car Crash" at Christie's website 42. ^ Farah Nayeri, U.K. Buys Titian Diana Painting for 50 Million Pounds , Bloomberg, February 2, 2009 43. ^ Mike Wade, Titian deal paves way for next acquisition , The Sunday Times, 2 February 2009 44. ^ Funds secured for Titian painting , BBC News, 2 February 2009 45. ^ Greatest German Renaissance Madonna sold by prince , The Art Newspaper, July 15, 2011 46. ^ Salisbury, Stephan (November 14, 2006), A divisive deal , The Philadelphia Inquirer 47. ^ No. 1 (Royal Red and Blue at Sotheby's 48. ^ Lot description and auction details of "Femme aux bras croiss" at Christie's website 49. ^ Kelly Crow, Sotheby's Sells $68.9 Million Modigliani , Wall Street Journal, November 3, 2010 50. ^ Nu assis sur un divan auction details at Sotheby's 51. ^ "Willem de Kooning" . Twcdc.com. Retrieved 2013-04-30. 52. ^ Pauline McLean BBC Scotland arts correspondent. "Titian masterpiece Diana and Callisto saved for nation" . Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-03-01. 53. ^ sGallery: A Gauguin and a van Gogh Change Hands 54. ^ Carol Vogel, A Gauguin and a van Gogh Change Hands , New York Times, Oct 7, 2005 55. ^ Carter B. Horsley, The Collection of Eleanore and Daniel Saidenberg 56. ^ China auction sees Qi Baishi painting sell for $65m 57. ^ The buyer of 422.5 Million Qi Baishi painting revealed 58. ^ Carol Vogel, Auction Records Fall at Phillipss Sale of Contemporary Masters , NY Times, November 10, 2010 59. ^ Lot description and auction details of "Suprematist Composition" at Sotheby's website. 60. ^ Wang Meng painting auction for $62 million 61. ^ Carol Vogel, As Stocks Fall, Art Surges at a $315.8 Million Sale , NY Times, November 9, 2011

14. 15. 16. 17. 18.

19. ^ Kimmelman, Michael: How the MoMA got the Van Gogh , New York Times, 09 October 1989. 20. ^ Marc Spiegler, he Hunt for the Red Collector , New York Magazine, 22 August 2006. 21. ^ Lot description and auction details of "Dora Maar au Chat" at Sotheby's website. 22. ^ The Pop master's highs and lows , The Economist, 26 November 2009. 23. ^ DIC Sells 'Anna's Light' Painting For Y10.3bn Gain 24. ^ Barnett Newman "Anna's Light" (Japanese) 25. ^ Regarding extraordinary profit associated with the sale of a certain painting owned by the company and revision of its consolidated operating result forecast 26. ^ Silver Car Crash auction results at Sotheby's 27. ^ Mr. Kenneth Thomsons gift to the AGO of his art collection -- the most significant private art collection in Canada will add 2,000 outstanding works to the Art Gallery of Ontario , archived from the original on 2006-10-08, retrieved 2013-09-02 28. ^ Wine Spectator Online: Unfiltered (21 May 2008). "Chteau Ptrus Makes a Record-Breaking Saleof Art" . 29. ^ Cristina Ruiz and Sarah Thornton Roman Abramovich brings home the

External links

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(French)

Top 100 most expensive paintings

The Most Expensive Paintings ever sold list by theartwolf The 49 Most Expensive Paintings ever sold visualisation by Jacksonsart
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