The most famous paintings, old master works done before 1803 to contemporary works, are generally owned or held at museums, for viewing by patrons. There’s no doubt that many people would agree that the majority of artwork found in museums and private collections around the world are priceless, since they are rarely sold. Being one of a kind, it makes it difficult to put a price on many works; however, almost on a daily basis, art is sold and bought, oftentimes bringing hefty price tags that most will never be able to afford. So, unless you’re a billionaire, hedge fund owner or some kind of royalty, owing one of the most expensive paintings in the world is nothing more than a distant dream.
Here are the top 20 most expensive paintings in the world.
Rank | Painting | Artist | Price |
1. | Salvator Mundi | Leonardo da Vinci | $450.3 million |
2. | Interchange | Willem de Kooning | $300 million |
3. | The Card Players | Paul Cézanne | $250 million |
4. | Nafea Faa Ipoipo | Paul Gauguin | $210 million |
5. | Number 17A | Jackson Pollock | $200 million |
6. | No. 6 (Violet, Green and Red) | Mark Rothko | $186 million |
7. | Pendant portraits of Maerten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit | Rembrandt | $180 million |
8. | Les Femmes d’ Alger (“Version O”) | Pablo Picasso | $197.4 million |
9. | Nu couché | Amedeo Modigliani | $170.4 million |
10. | Masterpiece | Roy Lichtenstein | $165 million |
11. | Nu couché (Sur le côté gauche) | Amedeo Modigliani | $157.2 million |
12. | Le Rêve | Pablo Picasso | $155 million |
13. | Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II | Gustav Klimt | $150 million |
14. | Three Studies of Lucian Freud | Francis Bacon | $142.4 million |
15. | No. 5, 1948 | Jackson Pollock | $140 million |
16. | Woman III | Willem de Kooning | $137.5 million |
17. | Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I | Gustav Klimt | $135 million |
18. | The Scream | Edvard Munch | $119.9 million |
19. | Reclining Nude With Blue Cushion | Amedeo Modigliani | $118 million |
20. | Untitled | Jean-Michel Basquiat | $110.5 million |
