List of most expensive paintings
This is a list of the highest known prices paid for paintings. The record payment for a work is approximately US $450.3 million (which includes commission) for the work Salvator Mundi (Template:Circa) generally considered to be by Leonardo da Vinci, though this is disputed. The painting was sold in November 2017,[1][2] through the auction house Christie's in New York City.
Background
The most famous paintings, especially old master works created before 1803, are generally owned or held by museums for viewing by patrons. Since museums rarely sell them, they are considered priceless. Guinness World Records lists Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa as having the highest insurance value for a painting. On permanent display at the Louvre in Paris, the Mona Lisa was assessed at US$100 million on 14 December 1962.[3] Taking only inflation into account, the 1962 value would be around US$Template:Inflation billion in Template:Inflation-year.Template:Inflation-fn
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 (£Template:Inflation million in Template:Inflation-year currency). This sale 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 (£Template:Inflation million in Template:Inflation-year currency) paid by the J. Paul Getty Museum for Andrea Mantegna's Adoration of the Magi at Christie's in London on 18 April 1985.[4] The sale of Vincent van Gogh's Sunflowers was the first time a "modern" (in this case 1888) painting became the record holder. Old master paintings had previously dominated the market.[3] In contrast, there are currently only nine pre-1875 paintings among the listed top 89, and none created between 1635 and 1874.Template:Fact
An exceptional case is graffiti artist David Choe, who accepted payment in shares for painting graffiti art in the headquarters of a fledgling Facebook. His shares were of limited value when he was given them, but by the time of Facebook's IPO they were valued at around $200 million.[5]
The list is incomplete with respect to sales between private parties, as these are not always reported and, even if they are, details like the purchase price may remain secret. For example, on June 25, 2019, the American hedge fund manager J. Tomilson Hill bought a recently rediscovered Judith and Holofernes (1607) attributed to Caravaggio, two days before it would have been auctioned in Toulouse.[6] Though the Louvre Museum had turned down the opportunity to purchase it for €100 million,[7] the painting was estimated to sell for $110 to $170 million.[8] The actual purchase price was not disclosed, because of a confidentiality agreement attached to the private sale.[6] Another example is a 2019 sale of The Seated Zouave by Vincent van Gogh. According to some sources, the painting had been sold by Argentine art collector Nelly Arrieta de Blaquier for $300 million,[9] but the price was not confirmed by any of the parties involved.[10]
Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, and Andy Warhol are the best-represented artists in the list. Whereas Picasso and Warhol became wealthy men, van Gogh is known to have sold only one painting in his lifetime, The Red Vineyard, for Template:Currency (approximately $2,000 in 2018 dollars) in 1890, to the Belgian impressionist painter and heiress Anna Boch.[11][12]
Georgia O'Keeffe holds the record for the highest price paid for a painting by a woman. On November 20, 2014 at Sotheby's, the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art bought her 1932 painting Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1 for US $44.4 million (equivalent to US$Template:Inflation million in Template:Inflation-year).[13][14]
Among the listed top paintings listed, only seven are by non-Western artists. Five are traditional Chinese paintings by Qi Baishi, Wu Bin, Wang Meng and Xu Yang. In particular, Qi Baishi's Twelve Landscape Screens was sold for $140.8 million in 2017. The only non-Western modern artwork listed is that of the Chinese-French painter Zao Wouki's oil painting Juin-Octobre 1985, which was sold for $65 million in 2018.[15] Also included in this list is Chinese painter Wang Shaofei's The High Sun, which was sold at an estimated price of $74 million in 2017.[16][17]
List of highest prices paid
Template:Clear This list is ordered by consumer price index inflation-adjusted value (in bold) in millions of United States dollars in Template:Inflation-year.[note 1] 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 listed only once, i.e., for the highest price sold.
Progression of highest prices paid
Template:Clear This list shows the progression of the highest price paid for a painting since 1746.
See also
- Market for artworks
- Destination painting
- The Price of Everything, 2018 documentary on contemporary art valuations
- The Lost Leonardo, 2021 documentary on the 2017 sale of the Salvador Mundi
- List of most expensive artworks by living artists
- List of most expensive books and manuscripts
- List of most expensive cars sold at auction
- List of most expensive non-fungible tokens
- List of most expensive photographs
- List of most expensive sculptures
- List of most expensive watches sold at auction
Notes
References
External links
- The Most Expensive Paintings ever sold list by theartwolf
- Template:Webarchive
- Most Expensive Artworks of 2024
Template:Most Expensive Template:Art world Template:Lists of paintings
- ↑ Template:Cite newsTemplate:Cbignore
- ↑ Exhibition Guide: Leonardo Da Vinci, Painter at the Court of Milan, 9 November 2011– 5 February 2012
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Template:Cite book
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 William Wilson, Getty Pays $10.5 Million For Painting, The New York Times, April 19, 1985
- ↑ Nick Bilton, "For Founders to Decorators, Facebook Riches," The New York Times, 1/1/12.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Robin Pogrebin, Mystery Buyer of Work Attributed to Caravaggio Revealed, The New York Times, 27 June 2019
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- ↑ Alex Greenberger, Caravaggio Painting Estimated at $170 M. Sold Privately Ahead of Auction in France, ArtNews, 25 June 2019
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- ↑ 21.0 21.1 Stefan Koldehoff, Welt-online: Das Rätsel vom teuersten Bild aller Zeiten, 31 July 2011 (already mentions Qatar as most likely buyer)
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- ↑ Portraits of Maerten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit by Rembrandt, an exceptionnal [sic] acquisition exhibited at the Musée du Louvre, www.louvre.fr
- ↑ Rembrandt portraits may come home, The New York Times, September 21, 2015
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- ↑ 33.0 33.1 Carol Vogel, A Pollock Is Sold, Possibly for a Record Price, The New York Times, November 2, 2006
- ↑ Carol Vogel, Landmark De Kooning Crowns Collection, The New York Times, November 18, 2006
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- ↑ On June 11, 2017, Ms. Gund revealed that she intended to use the proceeds from the sale of the painting for a specific purpose: to create a fund that supports criminal justice reform and seeks to reduce mass incarceration in the United States.Template:Cite news
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- ↑ 38.0 38.1 Carol Vogel, Lauder Pays $135 Million, a Record, for a Klimt Portrait, The New York Times, June 19, 2006
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- ↑ Carol Vogel & Peter Lattman, $616 Million Poorer, Hedge Fund Owner Still Buys Art, The New York Times, March 26, 2013
- ↑ 41.0 41.1 Lee Rosenbaum, "Dr. Gachet" Sighting: It WAS Flöttl!, ArtsJournal, January 26, 2007
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- ↑ Carol Vogel, Buyer of $142.4 Million Bacon Triptych Identified as Elaine Wynn, The New York Times, January 15, 2014
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- ↑ Kelly Crow, An Art Mystery Solved: Mogul Is 'Scream' Buyer, The Wall Street Journal, July 11, 2012
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- ↑ Picasso piece sets record for art sold at auction, Reuters, May 5, 2010
- ↑ 54.0 54.1 Kimmelman, Michael: How the MoMA got the Van Gogh, The New York Times, 09 October 1989.
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- ↑ Marc Spiegler, he Hunt for the Red Collector Template:Webarchive, New York Magazine, 22 August 2006.
- ↑ Lot description and auction details of "Dora Maar au Chat" at Sotheby's website.
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- ↑ Dan Duray, qatar may have purchased Warhol's 'Eight Elvises', ArtNews 08/07/14
- ↑ The Pop master's highs and lows, The Economist, 26 November 2009.
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- ↑ Why Spend $110 Million on a Basquiat?, The New York Times, May 26, 2017
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- ↑ Scott Reyburn, A Monet Sells for $110.7 Million, an Auction High for an Impressionist Work, The New York Times, May 14, 2019.
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- ↑ Cristina Ruiz and Sarah Thornton Roman Abramovich brings home the $86.3m Bacon and the $33.6m Freud Template:Webarchive, The Art Newspaper, 1 June 2008
- ↑ Lot description and auction details of "Triptych, 1976" at Sotheby's website.
- ↑ Judd Tully, Auction; `Blue' Picasso Breaks Record at $51.7 Million, The Washington Post, Dec 1, 1989
- ↑ 80.0 80.1 Carol Vogel, Works by Johns and de Kooning Sell for $143.5 Million, The New York Times, October 12, 2006
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- ↑ The Getty secures masterpiece portrait by Titian Template:Webarchive, a November 24, 2003 press release by the Getty Museum
- ↑ Will Bennett, The $70 million soldier, The Daily Telegraph, 23 February 2004
- ↑ Mark Rothko painting sets post-war auction record, The Daily Telegraph, 9 May 2012
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- ↑ Lot description and auction details of "Le bassin aux nymphéas" at Christie's website
- ↑ 90.0 90.1 Scott Reyburn, Hopper Painting Sells for Record $91.9 Million at Christie’s, The New York Times, November 13, 2018
- ↑ Scott Reyburn and Robin Pogrebin, David Hockney Painting Sells for $90 Million, Smashing Record for Living Artist, The New York Times, November 15, 2018
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- ↑ Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) Laboureur dans un champ at Christie's website
- ↑ Lot description and auction details of "Triptych Inspired by the Oresteia of Aeschylus" at Sotheby's website.
- ↑ Farah Nayeri, U.K. Buys Titian Diana Painting for 50 Million Pounds, Bloomberg, February 2, 2009
- ↑ Mike Wade, Titian deal paves way for next acquisition, The Sunday Times, 2 February 2009
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- ↑ Salisbury, Stephan (November 14, 2006), A divisive deal, The Philadelphia Inquirer
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- ↑ Lot description and auction details of "Femme aux bras croisés" at Christie's website
- ↑ Kelly Crow, Sotheby's Sells $68.9 Million Modigliani, The Wall Street Journal, November 3, 2010
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- ↑ Francis Bacon (1909–1992) Portrait of George Dyer Talking at Christie's website
- ↑ Carol Vogel, Francis Bacon Work Sells for $70 Million at Christie’s Auction, The New York Times, February 13, 2014
- ↑ Carol Vogel, A Gauguin and a van Gogh Change Hands, The New York Times, Oct 7, 2005
- ↑ Cy Twombly's Untitled auction results at Christie's
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- ↑ Nate Freeman, A Zao Wou-Ki painting sold for $65 million, breaking records for a work by an Asian artist, Artsy, October 1, 2018
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