List of very expensive paintings
This is a list of the highest prices paid for paintings. Very valuable paintings, if sold, are usually sold at auctions.
The world's most famous paintings, especially works done before 1800, are generally owned by museums, which very rarely sell them; this is why the vast majority of the works in this list were painted after that date. As such, they are quite literally priceless; if a painting like the Mona Lisa (along with many others by the old masters) were to become available, it would almost certainly sell for much more than any of the paintings listed below.
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 chose to spend the money on security rather than insurance. Taking inflation into account, the 1962 value would be approximately US$670 million in 2006.
This list is ordered by consumer price index inflation-adjusted value (in bold) in millions of 2007 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 would probably 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 |
Original price (m) |
Painting | Artist | Year | sale | Seller | Buyer | Auction House |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
$142.7 | $140 | No. 5, 1948 | Jackson Pollock | 1948 | 2006 | David Geffen | David Martinez | private sale |
$140.2 | $137.5 | Woman III | Willem de Kooning | 1953 | 2006 | David Geffen | Steven A. Cohen | private sale via Larry Gagosian |
$137.6 | $135 | Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I | Gustav Klimt | 1907 | 2006 | Maria Altmann | Ronald Lauder, Neue Galerie | private sale |
$129.7 | $82.5 | Portrait of Dr. Gachet | Vincent van Gogh | 1890 | 1990 | Siegfried Kramarsky family | Ryoei Saito | Christie's, New York |
$122.8 | $78.1 | Bal au moulin de la Galette, Montmartre | Pierre-Auguste Renoir | 1876 | 1990 | Betsey Whitney | Ryoei Saito | Sotheby's, New York |
$113.4 | $104.2 | Gar?on ? la pipe | Pablo Picasso | 1905 | 2004 | Greentree foundation (Whitney family) | Sotheby's, New York | |
$97.5 | $53.9 | Irises | Vincent van Gogh | 1889 | 1987 | son of Joan Whitney Payson | Alan Bond | Sotheby's, New York |
$97.0 | $95.2 | Dora Maar au Chat | Pablo Picasso | 1941 | 2006 | Gidwitz family | Sotheby's, New York | |
$90.1 | $71.5 | Portrait de l'artiste sans barbe | Vincent van Gogh | 1889 | 1998 | heirs of Jacques Koerfer | Christie's, New York | |
$89.1 | $87.9 | Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II | Gustav Klimt | 1912 | 2006 | Maria Altmann | Christie's, New York | |
$87.6 | $76.7 (?49.5) | Massacre of the Innocents | Peter Paul Rubens | 1611 | 2002 | an Austrian family | Kenneth Thomson | Sotheby's, London |
$81.7 | $49.2 (F300) | Les Noces de Pierrette | Pablo Picasso | 1905 | 1989 | Fredrik Roos | Tomonori Tsurumaki | Binoche et Godeau Paris |
$81.5 | $80.0 | False Start | Jasper Johns | 1959 | 2006 | David Geffen | Kenneth C. Griffin | private sale via Richard Gray |
$81.1 | $57 | A Wheatfield with Cypresses | Vincent van Gogh | 1889 | 1993 | son of Emil Georg Buhrle | Walter H. Annenberg | private sale via Steven Mazoh |
$79.3 | $47.85 | Yo, Picasso | Pablo Picasso | 1901 | 1989 | Wendell Cherry | Stavros Niarchos | Sotheby's, New York |
$74.6 | $60.5 | Rideau, Cruchon et Compotier | Paul C?zanne | 1894 | 1999 | Whitney Family | Sotheby's, New York | |
$72.8 | $72.8 | White Center (Yellow, Pink and Lavender on Rose) | Mark Rothko | 1950 | 2007 | David Rockefeller, Sr. | Sotheby's, New York | |
$71.8 | $39.7 (?24.75) | Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers | Vincent van Gogh | 1888 | 1987 | daughter-in-law of Chester Beatty | Yasuo Goto, Yasuda Comp. | Christie's, London |
$71.7 | $71.7 | Green Car Crash (Green Burning Car I) | Andy Warhol | 1963 | 2007 | David Rockefeller, Sr. | Christie's, New York | |
$67.5 | $40.7 | Au Lapin Agile | Pablo Picasso | 1904 | 1989 | daughter of Joan Whitney Payson | Walter H. Annenberg | Sotheby's, New York |
$66.9 | $38.5 (?20.9) | Acrobate et jeune Arlequin | Pablo Picasso | 1905 | 1988 | heir of Roger Janssen | Mitsukoshi | Christie's, London |
$65.6 | $55.0 | Femme aux Bras Crois?s | Pablo Picasso | 1902 | 2000 | McCormick family, Chicago | Christie's, New York | |
$64.7 | $63.5 | Police Gazette | Willem de Kooning | 1955 | 2006 | David Geffen | Steven A. Cohen | private sale, Richard Gray Gallery |
$62.0 | $48.4 | Le R?ve | Pablo Picasso | 1932 | 1997 | Ganz family | Wolfgang Fl?ttl | Christie's, New York. |
$61.2 | $49.6 | Femme assise dans un jardin | Pablo Picasso | 1938 | 1999 | Robert Saidenberg | Sotheby's, New York | |
$60.8 | $47.5 | Peasant Woman Against a Background of Wheat | Vincent van Gogh | 1890 | 1997 | Stephen Wynn | private sale via Acquavella Galleries Inc., New York | |
$58.4 | $35.2 | Portrait of Duke Cosimo I de'Medici | Pontormo | 1537 | 1989 | Frick Collection | Getty Museum | Christie's, New York |