Here, we take look at some of the most expensive paintings ever sold in art history. Find out which Andy Warhol painting fetched a record-setting price at Christie’s, as well as the controversy surrounding the world’s most expensive painting, below.
Salvator Mundi by Leonardo da Vinci – $450 million
Salvator Mundi sold for a little over $450 million at a Christie’s auction in 2017 to an anonymous buyer. 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.
Interchange by Willem de Kooning – $300 million
Regarded as the “artist’s artist,” Dutch-American artist Willem de Kooning shaped the abstract expressionist style with his gestural works often based on based on figures, landscapes, and still life. Kenneth C. Griffin acquired the oil painting for $300 million from the David Geffen Foundation in September of 2015.
The Card Players by Paul Cézanne – $250 million
During the 1890s, Paul Cézanne created a series of five works depicting labor workers playing cards. The calm nature of the painting—which depicts two men immersed in a game—is a departure from Cézanne’s previous dramatic and colorful works.
While most paintings in the series are displayed at museums throughout the world, this particular one was bought by the royal family of Qatar for $250 million in 2011.
Nafea Faa Ipoipo? by Paul Gauguin – $210 million
Nafea Faa Ipoipo?, translated to “When Will You Marry?,” is one of the first paintings Paul Gaugin painted after his first trip to Tahiti in 1891. It was originally reported that the Gaugin painting was sold by Swiss businessman Rudolf Staechelin to a Qatari buyer for $300 million. However, a lawsuit in 2017 later revealed the painting only sold for $210 million.
Number 17A by Jackson Pollock – $200 million
A leader in the abstract expressionist movement, Jackson Pollock rose to fame for his “drip” technique, where Pollock would pour paint onto canvas—often laid onto the floor—as a way to convey emotion through movement.
Number 17A—an abstract painting featuring a kaleidoscope of colors across a fiberboard canvas— is one of Pollock’s early works featuring this technique. Billionaire Kenneth C. Griffin bought the painting in 2015 for $200 million from the David Geffen Foundation.
