The 10 Most Expensive Paintings in the World: A blog on the top 10 most expensive paintings.
The highest paid artists of all time are painters, with Pablo Picasso leading the pack as the top earner of all time. In fact, a few artworks have sold for over $100 million dollars at auction to date. The list below contains some of the most famous and expensive paintings ever created, and many of them are still setting records for their respective artists and categories.
A little history about Picasso:
Pablo Picasso was born October 25 1881 in Spain, where he lived and worked until his death on April 8 1973 in France. He produced more than 50,000 pieces during his lifetime, which were sold for large sums.
Truly one of the most prolific artists in history, Picasso’s work has been lauded by critics since the beginning of his career.
He is recognized as a master painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and stage designer. His work is one of the most influential styles of the 20th century and beyond.
In addition to being an incredibly successful artist, Picasso was also an avid collector of art himself. He collected so much that when he died there was reportedly no room left
The top 10 most expensive paintings in the world are ranked by the prices they fetched when they were sold at an auction. The list includes paintings by famous artists and also some new artists.
The most expensive painting of all time was “The Card Players”, a painting by Paul Cezanne. The painting that was sold for a whopping $250 million dollars, is counted among the most expensive paintings in the world. The second most expensive painting is “Nafea Faa Ipoipo” by Paul Gauguin which was sold for $175 million dollars.
Listed below are the 10 most expensive paintings in the world:
1. The Card Players ($250 million)
2. Nafea Faa Ipoipo ($175 million)
3. No 5, 1948 ($140 million)
4. Garcon a la Pipe ($119.9 million)
5. Les Femmes d’Alger (Version O) ($106.5 million)
6. Le Reve ($100 million)
7. Nu Couché ($100 million)
8. The Doctors Frick Collection ($87.9 million)
9. The Lane Charcoal Seated Figure ($86 million)
As the name suggests, these are the top 10 most expensive paintings in the world.
1. Last Suppers (1996) by Andy Warhol:
This is one of the works by this artist that is available at more than $100 million. The work was created in 1996 and it depicts events from the last supper of Jesus Christ which took place before his crucifixion. The painting is a large canvas which measures 31 inches by 25 inches and it is painted on both sides which makes it a diptych. The piece was auctioned in 2013 for a whooping $71 million at the Sotheby’s New York.
2. Garçon à la pipe (1905) by Pablo Picasso:
Picasso is one of the greatest painters in history and his works are extremely popular as they are known to be revolutionary as well as highly influential to many other artists, particularly in modern art. This particular piece was created by Picasso in 1905 when he was only 24 years old. At that time he was still very much an unknown artist hence it was sold at a price of 30,000 French francs before being auctioned off at Christie’s auction house in London in 2004 for a price of $104 million.
3. Nu Couché
1. The most expensive painting in the world is “The Card Players” by Paul Cezanne which sold for $250 million.
2. The second most expensive painting is an abstract painting by Mark Rothko named “White Center” which sold for $72.8 million.
3. Third on the list of most expensive paintings is a pop art painting by Andy Warhol titled “Orange Marilyn”. It was sold in 2007 for $64.6 million.
4. The fourth most expensive painting is another abstract oil painting, this time by Jackson Pollock, named “No. 5, 1948” . It was sold in 2006 for $56 million.
5. Fifth most expensive painting is “Les Femme d’Algers (Version ‘O’)”, a cubist painting by Pablo Picasso that was sold in May 2010 for $53.9 million.
6. Sixth on the list of top 10 most expensive paintings is a surrealist artwork named “Nu au Fauteuil” by Salvador Dali which was auctioned off in 2008 for $51 million
7. Seventh on the list of 10 Most Expensive Paintings are two paintings from graffiti artist Jean-Michel Basquiat who died at the age of 27 due to
It’s a shame that abstract art is so often misunderstood by the people who love it. It’s often seen as “empty” and lacking in meaning, when in fact it can be more full of meaning than any other art form.
Famously, many great abstract artists (including Jasper Johns in the video above) have started their careers as figurative artists. But abstraction is not always the natural next step for a painter; sometimes it takes years of working on realistic paintings before they feel compelled to move beyond them.
The 10 most expensive paintings are all abstract, though some of them are figurative pieces that were painted by abstract artists. Who knows how many great realistic paintings have been destroyed since the beginning of time because they weren’t good enough to sell? You can be pretty sure that none of the 10 most expensive paintings ever created were thrown out. They were all loved and cared for at one point, even if they didn’t sell.
To me, this is part of what makes them so valuable: these paintings have survived for hundreds of years just because someone loved them enough to keep them safe for us.
And another thing about these paintings that I love is their scale. They’re huge! They’re made to decorate walls and ceilings, to fill
While most of us are content to admire the art of Da Vinci, Picasso and Rembrandt, some people have a need for more tangible proof of their collecting prowess. After all, what’s the point of having 17th century paintings in your home if all your guests can do is gaze upon them with admiration?
So in come the buyers who are willing to pay big bucks for an artist’s work, especially if it’s something no one else has. This list is devoted to names like Damien Hirst, Takashi Murakami and Yayoi Kusama; artists who know how to create masterpieces that sparkle on a canvas but also give off that bling-bling appeal. Here are ten of the most expensive paintings ever sold at auction:
01. Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II by Gustav Klimt – $135 million
Klimt’s famed oil painting of Jewish society beauty Adele Bloch-Bauer was purchased by cosmetics heir Ronald Lauder in 2006. Aside from the fact that Klimt painted the portrait in 1907 and Bloch-Bauer died at age 37 a year later due to complications from an injection she received, there’s no real reason why this piece should be so expensive… other
The top artworks sold at auction have fetched some impressive prices over the years. A Warhol portrait of a famous beauty sold for $71.7 million. A study for a work by Leonardo da Vinci sold for $100 million, and a single sculpture by Rodin went for $142.4 million. On this list is Jackson Pollock’s Number 5, 1948, which was purchased for $140 million in 2006 and took the top spot on the all-time most expensive paintings list until it was dethroned in 2011 by a painting from Mark Rothko.
Titled “Rococo,” this painting is one of the most expensive works ever sold at auction and is currently owned by the sultan of Qatar. The piece is one of two portraits of the artist painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds and comes with an impressive pedigree. After being commissioned to paint Gainsborough and his wife, Reynolds was so pleased with the results that he asked Gainsborough to sit again so he could paint his portrait again as well. This second portrait depicts Gainsborough holding a lock of hair belonging to his wife Elizabeth and was created in 1785 when Gainsborough was 60 years old.
This work by the Spanish painter formerly known as Juan Miro fetched