Painted four years before the artist's death in 1956, the purchase price of US$2 million (then equivalent to A$1.3 million) set a new record for Pollock and was, at the time, the most expensive American painting ever sold.
From the New York-based Australian gallerist Max Hutchinson, he discovered that Blue Poles (painted in 1952) was available for sale from the original owner for $1.3 million ($11 million in today's money).
In 2020, his work Henri's Armchair (1974) broke the auction record for the most expensive Australian painting when it was sold for AU$6.1 million — equivalent to around US$4.5 million.
And did you know that it was once one of the most controversial paintings in Australia? In August 1973, the Whitlam Government purchased Jackson Pollock's 'Blue Poles' for $1.3 million, the most ever spent on a US artwork at the time.
Jackson Pollock's work has been offered at auction multiple times, with realized prices ranging from 15 USD to 61,161,000 USD, depending on the size and medium of the artwork.
The most expensive paintings in the world
While some works of art are priceless, others have been sold with an astronomical price tag. The most expensive painting ever sold is the Salvator Mundi, the Saviour of the World in English, attributed to Leonardo da Vinci.
The Mona Lisa is priceless. Any speculative price (some say over a billion dollars!) would probably be so high that not one person would be able or willing to purchase and maintain the painting. Moreover, the Louvre Museum would probably never sell it.
The last monumental abstract painting by American artist Jackson Pollock, Blue poles became part of Australia's emerging national art collection in 1973 amid much controversy.
Jackson Pollock's drip paintings have stamped his place in the art world as a pioneering abstract expressionist. His works have sold for some of the highest prices ever recorded for paintings, with his masterpiece Number 5 1948, selling for an astounding $140 million at Christie's in 2006.
Blue Poles, also known as Number 11, 1952 is an abstract expressionist painting by American artist Jackson Pollock. It was purchased amid controversy by the National Gallery of Australia in 1973 and today remains one of the gallery's major paintings.
The most expensive artwork ever sold at auction was by Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri. His painting “Warlugulong” (1977) was bought by the National Gallery of Australia in 2007 for AUD 2.4 million (USD 2.1 million).
Guinness World Records lists Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa as having the highest ever 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. Taking inflation into account, the 1962 value would be around US$970 million in 2022.
Salvator Mundi by Leonardo da Vinci
The New York Times reported the buyer was acting for a Saudi prince, Bader bin Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Farhan al-Saud—the painting has since been under the ownership of the Saudi Arabian culture ministry.
Blue Dog, 1996. Oil on canvas, 14 x 11 inches. Sold for: $112,500.00.
Blue poles was first exhibited as 'Number 11, 1952' in Pollock's solo show at Sidney Janis Gallery in New York in November 1952. Two years later, he gave it the descriptive title 'Blue poles', which refers to the eight dark vertical stripes that interrupt the swirling surface.
The acquisition of Blue Poles, however, sparked a major controversy in Australia as people protested against the high price paid for it – in fact, it was the highest price every paid for an American painting at that time.
It was acquired by King Francis I of France and is now the property of the French Republic. It has been on permanent display at the Louvre in Paris since 1797.
5, 1948. The paintings hanging in museums rarely get sold which in turn creates a lack of supply in the market that the only one that can be a potential asset is priced exorbitantly.
Demand. The Mona Lisa is one of the most famous paintings in the world and has a high demand among art collectors, museums, and enthusiasts. The demand for the painting has a significant impact on its value, as the high demand drives up the price due to the many people willing to pay a high price for it.
"Jackson Pollock's Blue Poles is by far the most valuable artwork in the National Collection because it's one of the most important works of the 20th Century," an NGA spokesperson said.
While in many ways continuing his now trademark 'all-over' composition, Pollock pushed his endeavours in abstraction further by introducing the bold presence of the eight blue 'poles' that intersect the canvas.
So, the lack of recognisable symbolism in Blue poles is deliberate. Much of Pollock's work was about externalising his seemingly troubled internal states. He was interested in Jungian psychoanalysis, which is based on ideas of a “collective unconsciousness” that all humans share.
Picasso's 'La Gommeuse' oil on canvas painting worth $67.5 million. Among Pablo Picasso's famous paintings is La Gommeuse. Created between 1901 and 1902 during Picasso's Blue Period, this painting came to be worth $1.4 million in 1986. Since then, it saw a 5,600% value increase, landing it a $49.9 million price tag.
According to French historian Patrice de Moncan, “the Louvre, minus its contents, is worth a staggering $10.5 billion,” and its artworks and objects “have a likely MINIMUM value of $35 billion.” To put this into perspective, it would take someone with a $10 million annual salary 4,550 years to accumulate this wealth.
The original Mona Lisa is on permanent display at the the Musee du Louvre in Paris.