The most expensive paintings in the world
The most expensive painting ever sold is the Salvator Mundi, the Saviour of the World in English, attributed to Leonardo da Vinci. It was painted in the 1500s and sold for $450.3 million in 2017. The painting was acquired by Mohamed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia.
1. John Currin. With an estimated net worth of over $1.4 billion, John Currin is the richest painter in the world in 2023.
Gerhard Richter is at the very top of our list—the most famous living painter today. Born in 1932 in Dresden, Germany, Richter currently lives and works in Cologne, Germany. Richter dedicated his career to exploring the medium of painting in close relation to the effects of photography.
The highest price for a piece of art by a living artist was for Jasper Johns's 1958 painting Flag. It was sold privately for what is thought to be $110 million USD ($137 million in 2021 dollars).
In October of 2021, the anticipated new valuation was tested at Sotheby's Marquee sale in London. A number of bidders were present and wanted their chance for the shredded Banksy painting. After a 10-minute bidding process, the half shredded painting had sold for 18.5 million GBP (25 Million USD).
The piece, Nafea Faa Ipoipo (When Will You Marry?), is believed to have fetched $300 million. The oil-on-canvas was produced in 1892 during Gauguin's first visit to French Polynesia. It features a pair of Tahitian girls seated next to a tree.
Leonardo Da Vinci (1452 - 1519)
Da Vinci is widely recognized as the most famous and influential artist of all time. He's Mona Lisa painting masterpiece is permanently displayed in the Louvre Museum in France protected behind bulletproof glass.
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.
A full 75 percent are based in the US. The median income for respondents was just $20,000 to $30,000, with 60 percent making less than $30,000. Although the median household income in the US is $58,000, according to the 2016 census, only 19 percent of artists make over $50,000 a year.
The Sotheby's auction for Gustav Klimt's final completed work sparked a 10-minute bidding war that far exceeded its initial $80 million price tag.
The highest-paid state for artists is California with an average salary of $75,539 per year.
The Mona Lisa hangs behind bulletproof glass in a gallery of the Louvre Museum in Paris, where it has been a part of the museum's collection since 1804. It was part of the royal collection before becoming the property of the French people during the Revolution (1787–99).
Salvator Mundi by Leonardo Da Vinci is the most expensive painting ever to be sold. It went under the hammer for $450 million at a 2017 Christie's auction. Besides that, there are other masterpieces that fetched mind-blowing amounts at auction events and private sales.
Truly priceless, the painting cannot be bought or sold according to French heritage law. As part of the Louvre collection, "Mona Lisa" belongs to the public, and by popular agreement, their hearts belong to her.
Notable paintings like Young Girl with Basket of Flowers sold for $115 million in 2018, and Femme assise près d'une fenêtre (Marie-Therese) sold for $103.4 million in 2021. Before that, Marie-Therese had changed hands for only $30,000 in 1950—and its price in the 21st century may shock many.
Archaeologists believe they have discovered the world's oldest-known representational artwork: three wild pigs painted deep in a limestone cave on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi at least 45,500 years ago. The ancient images, revealed this week in the journal Science Advances, were found in Leang Tedongnge cave.
1881-1973: Picasso
The most prolific artist on record, Pablo Ruiz Picasso, created over 50,000 works of art. He was a painter, sculptor, printmaker, and ceramicist, but he is most well-known for his cubist works.
What celebrity has the longest name? That would be the late Pablo Picasso, whose full name is Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso.
One of Piet Mondrian's iconic abstract paintings sold for $51 million at Sotheby's New York on Monday, setting a new auction record for the Dutch artist's work. Featuring his signature blue, red, white and yellow squares, “Composition No.
The anonymous buyer at the auction in New York, Prince Bader bin Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Farhan al-Saud, was a little known member of a distant branch of the Saudi royal family with no publicly known source of great wealth or history as a major art collector.
This is a list of the highest known prices paid for paintings. The record is approximately US$450.3 million (which includes commission), paid for Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi ( c. 1500).
The painting was sold at auction for US$450.3 million on 15 November 2017 by Christie's in New York to Prince Badr bin Abdullah Al Saud, setting a new record for the most expensive painting ever sold at public auction.
On May 9 (US time), at the Rockefeller Center in New York, Andy Warhol's Shot Sage Blue Marilyn became the most expensive American artwork ever to sell at auction, selling for about US$195 million ($281m) to an unknown buyer.