List of most expensive paintings


This is a list of the highest known prices paid for paintings. The current record price is approximately US$450 million paid for Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi in November 2017.

Background

The most famous paintings, especially old master works done before 1803, are generally owned or held at museums, for viewing by patrons. Since the museums rarely sell them they are considered priceless. 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$100 million on December 14, 1962. Taking inflation into account, the 1962 value would be around US$ million in.
The earliest sale on the list below is from March 1987; with a price of £24.75 million. This sale tripled the previous record, and introduced a new era in top art sales. Before this, the highest absolute price paid for a painting was £8.1 million paid by the J. Paul Getty Museum for Andrea Mantegna's Adoration of the Magi at Christie's in London on April 18, 1985. In constant dollars, the highest price paid before 1987 was by the National Gallery of Art when in February 1967 they acquired Leonardo da Vinci's Ginevra de' Benci for around $5 million from the Princely Family of Liechtenstein. The sale of Van Gogh's Sunflowers was the first time a "modern" painting became the record holder, as opposed to the old master paintings which previously had dominated the market. In contrast, there are currently only nine pre-1875 paintings among the listed top 89, and none created between 1635 and 1874.
An exceptional case is graffiti artist David Choe, who accepted payment in shares for painting graffiti art in the headquarters of a fledgling Facebook. His shares were of limited value when he was given them, but by the time of Facebook's IPO they were valued at around $200m.
The list is incomplete with respect to sales between private parties, as these are not always reported and, even if they are, details like the purchase price may remain secret. For example, on 25 June 2019, the American hedge fund manager J. Tomilson Hill bought a recently rediscovered Judith and Holofernes attributed to Caravaggio, two days before it would have been auctioned in Toulouse. Though the Louvre Museum had turned down the opportunity to purchase it for €100 million, the painting was estimated to sell for $110 to $170 million. The actual purchase price was not disclosed, because of a confidentiality agreement attached to the private sale.
'', the only painting Vincent van Gogh sold during his lifetime

Van Gogh, Picasso, and Warhol

, Pablo Picasso, and Andy Warhol are by far the best-represented artists in the list. Whereas Picasso and Warhol became wealthy men, Van Gogh is known to have sold only one painting in his lifetime, The Red Vineyard, for 400 francs in 1890, to the impressionist painter and heiress Anna Boch. Prices realised for just his nine paintings listed below, when adjusted for inflation to 2017, add up to over US$900 million.

Most expensive painting by a female artist

holds the record for the highest price paid for a painting by a woman. On 20 November 2014 at Sotheby's, the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art bought her 1932 painting Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1 for US$44.4 million.

Most expensive non-Western paintings

Among the listed top 89, only 3 are paintings by non-Western artists. They are traditional Chinese paintings by Qi Baishi and Wang Meng. In particular, Qi Baishi's Twelve Landscape Screens was sold for $140.8m in 2017. Though just missing the list, notably, the Chinese-French painter Zao Wouki's oil painting Juin-Octobre 1985 was sold for $65m in 2018. In addition, Chinese painter Wang Shaofei's The High Sun was appraised for $74 million in 2017.

Interactive graph

List of highest prices paid

This list is ordered by consumer price index inflation-adjusted value in millions of United States dollars in. Where necessary, the price is first converted to dollars using the exchange rate at the time the painting was sold. The inflation adjustment may change as recent inflation rates are often revised. A list in another currency may be in a slightly different order due to exchange-rate fluctuations. Paintings are listed only once, i.e. for the highest price sold.
Adjusted price
Original price
PaintingImageArtistYearDate of saleRank
at sale		SellerBuyerAuction house
$$450.3Salvator Mundi1Dmitry RybolovlevBadr bin Abdullah Al SaudChristie's, New York
~$~$300Interchange19551David Geffen FoundationKenneth C. GriffinPrivate sale
$ +$250 +The Card Players1892/931George EmbiricosState of QatarPrivate sale
$$210Nafea Faa Ipoipo
18922Rudolf Staechelin heirsState of QatarPrivate sale
~$~$200Number 17A19484David Geffen FoundationKenneth C. GriffinPrivate sale
$$183.8Wasserschlangen II1904–072Yves BouvierDmitry RybolovlevPrivate sale
$$186
No. 6 19513Cherise MoueixDmitry RybolovlevPrivate sale via
Yves Bouvier
$$180
Pendant portraits of
Maerten Soolmans
and Oopjen Coppit		16347Éric de RothschildRijksmuseum
and Louvre		Private sale
$$179.4Les Femmes d'Alger
19555Private collectionHamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al ThaniChristie's, New York
$$170.4Nu couché1917/189Laura Mattioli RossiLiu YiqianChristie's, New York
$$140No. 5, 194819481David GeffenDavid MartinezPrivate sale via Sotheby's
$$137.5Woman III19532David GeffenSteven A. CohenPrivate sale via Larry Gagosian
$$165.0Masterpiece196212Agnes GundSteven A. CohenPrivate sale
$$135Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I19071Maria AltmannRonald Lauder, Neue GaleriePrivate sale via Christie's
$$155Le Rêve19326Steve WynnSteven A. CohenPrivate sale
$$82.5Portrait of Dr. Gachet18901Siegfried Kramarsky heirsRyoei SaitoChristie's, New York
$$157.2Nu couché 1917Ezra and David NahmadSotheby's, New York
$$150Adele Bloch-Bauer II191210Oprah WinfreyUnidentified buyer in ChinaPrivate sale via Larry Gagosian
$$142.4Three Studies of Lucian Freud19698Elaine Wynn, ex-wife of Steve WynnChristie's, New York
$$78.1Bal du moulin de la Galette
18762Betsey WhitneyRyoei Saito Sotheby's, New York
$$140.8
Twelve Landscape ScreensQi Baishi1925Beijing Poly Auction
$$104.2Garçon à la pipe19053Greentree Foundation
Guido Barilla Sotheby's, New York
$$119.9The Scream18958Petter OlsenLeon BlackSotheby's, New York
$$120Otahi189310Yves BouvierDmitry RybolovlevPrivate sale
$$118Reclining Nude With Blue Cushion19178Steven A. CohenDmitry RybolovlevPrivate sale via Yves Bouvier
$$110.0Flag19587Jean-Christophe CastelliSteven A. CohenPrivate sale, estimated price
$$106.5Nude, Green Leaves and Bust19329Frances Lasker Brody estateLeonard Blavatnik Christie's, New York
$$58 plus
exchange of
works		Portrait of Joseph Roulin18891Private collection, ZürichMuseum of Modern Art New YorkPrivate sale via
Thomas Ammann,
Fine Art Zurich
$$53.9Irises18891John Whitney Payson, son of Joan Whitney PaysonAlan BondSotheby's, New York
$$95.2Dora Maar au Chat19416Gidwitz familyBoris IvanishviliSotheby's, New York
$$100.0Eight Elvises196310Annibale BerlingieriThe State of Qatar Private sale via Philippe Ségalot
$$115Young Girl with a Flower Basket1905David and Peggy RockefellerThe Nahmad familyChristie's, New York
$ +$105.7 +
Anna's Light1968DIC Corp.Private sale
$$105.4Silver Car Crash 1963Sotheby's, New York
$$110.5Untitled1982Basquiat familyYusaku MaezawaSotheby's, New York
$$110.7Meules1890Sotheby's, New York
$$71.5Portrait de l'artiste sans barbe18895 heirsChristie's, New York
$$100La Montagne Sainte-Victoire
vue du bosquet du Château Noir		1904Edsel and Eleanor Ford HouseState of QatarPrivate sale
$$76.7
Massacre of the Innocents16116an Austrian familyKenneth ThomsonSotheby's, London
$$95.4Nurse1964Christie's, New York
$$86.3Triptych, 19761976Jean-Pierre Moueix heirsRoman AbramovichSotheby's, New York
$$49.3
Les Noces de Pierrette19053Tomonori TsurumakiBinoche et Godeau Paris
$$80.0False Start195911David GeffenKenneth C. GriffinPrivate sale via Richard Gray
$$57A Wheatfield with Cypresses18896Emil Georg Bührle's sonWalter H. AnnenbergPrivate sale via Steven Mazoh
$$85
Te Fare 1892Yves BouvierDmitry RybolovlevPrivate sale
$$47.8Yo, Picasso19012Wendell CherryStavros NiarchosSotheby's, New York
$$80.0Turquoise Marilyn1964Stefan EdlisSteven A. CohenPrivate sale via Larry Gagosian
$$70.0Portrait of Alfonso d'Avalos with a PageTitian153310AXA insurance companyGetty MuseumPrivate sale via
Hervé Aaron
$$86.9Orange, Red, Yellow1961David Pincus estateChristie's, New York
$$80.5
Le Bassin aux Nymphéas1919J. Irwin and Xenia S. MillerChristie's, London
$$91.9Chop Suey1929Barney A. Ebsworth estateChristie's, New York
$$60.5Rideau, Cruchon et Compotier18949Whitney Family Sotheby's, New York
$$90.3Portrait of an Artist 1972Christie's, New York
$$84.2Black Fire I1961Private CollectionAnonymousChristie's, New York
$$72.8White Center 1950David Rockefeller, Sr.Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-ThaniSotheby's, New York
$$39.7
Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers18891Helen Beatty,
daughter-in-law of
Chester Beatty		Yasuo Goto, Yasuda Comp.Christie's, London
$$88.8Buffalo II1964Robert and Beatrice Mayer EstateAlice WaltonChristie's, New York
$$81.9Triple Elvis1963Christie's, New York
$$71.7Green Car Crash
1963Private collection, ZürichPhilip NiarchosChristie's, New York
$$81.9No. 101958Christie's, New York
$$85.8Suprematist Composition1916The Nahmad familyAnonymousChristie's, New York
$$84.55Triptych Inspired by the Oresteia of Aeschylus1981Hans Rasmus AstrupSotheby's, New York
$$80.8Three Studies for a
Portrait of John Edwards		1984Private CollectionAnonymousChristie's, New York.
$$81.4Meule1891Christie's, New York
$$84.7Nymphéas en fleur1914–1917David and Peggy RockefellerXin Li-CohenChristie's, New York
~$~$75
Darmstadt Madonna1526Donatus, Landgrave of HesseReinhold WürthPrivate sale via
Christoph Graf Douglas
$$81.3Laboureur dans un champ1889Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass estateChristie's, New York
$$70.6
Diana and Actaeon
Titian1556–1559Duke of SutherlandNational Galleries of Scotland
& National Gallery, London		Private sale
$$40.7Au Lapin Agile19045Linda de Roulet, daughter of Joan Whitney PaysonWalter H. AnnenbergSotheby's, New York
$$68The Gross Clinic1875Thomas Jefferson UniversityPhiladelphia Museum of ArtPrivate sale
$$75.1No 1 1954John and Anne MarionSotheby's, New York
$$38.5
Acrobate et jeune arlequin
19053Roger Janssen heirs?
MitsukoshiChristie's, London
$$80.8Odalisque couchée aux magnolias1923David and Peggy RockefellerXin Li-CohenChristie's, New York
$$55.0Femme aux Bras Croisés1902Chauncey McCormick heirsChristie's, New York
$$69.0Nude Sitting on a Divan
1917Halit CıngıllıogluSotheby's, New York
$$63.5Police Gazette1955David GeffenSteven A. CohenPrivate sale via Richard Gray.
$$71.7
Diana and CallistoTitian1556–1559Duke of SutherlandNational Galleries of Scotland
& National Gallery, London		Private sale
$$70.5Untitled 1968Sydney M. Irmas heirsChristie's, New York
$$49.5Femme assise dans un jardin1938Robert Saidenberg Sotheby's, New York
$$70.2
Portrait of George Dyer Talking1966Christie's, London
$$47.5Peasant Woman Against
a Background of Wheat		189011Steve WynnPrivate sale via
Acquavella Galleries Inc.,
New York
$$69.6Untitled1970Nicola del RoscioChristie's, New York
$$69.6Four Marlons1966WestSpielChristie's, New York
$$65.5
Eagle Standing on Pine TreeQi Baishi1946Liu YiqianHunan TV & Broadcast
Intermediary Co		China Guardian Auctions
$$63.4Men in Her Life1962Jose MugrabiSheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-ThaniPhillips de Pury & Company
$$70.1Contraste de formes1913 and FoundationChristie's, New York
$$67.45La Gommeuse1901William I. KochSotheby's, New York.
$$35.2:File:Pontormo - Portrait of a Halberdier - Google Art Project.jpg|Portrait of a HalberdierPontormo15375Chauncey StillmanGetty MuseumChristie's, New York
$$67.4Buste de femme
1938Steve WynnJoseph LauChristie's, New York
$$66.3L’Allée des Alyscamps1888Sotheby's, New York
$$66.2Untitled1952Private CollectionAnonymousChristie's, New York
$$62.1
Zhichuan ResettlementWang Meng1350Beijing Poly Auction
$$66.3Untitled XXV1977Christie's, New York
$$69.2Femme au béret et à la robe quadrillée 1937Private collectionHarry SmithSotheby's, London
$$65.1 Spring1881Oliver Hazard Payne heirsGetty MuseumChristie's, New York
$$68.9Woman as Landscape1955Barney A. Ebsworth estateChristie's, New York
$$61.7:de:1949-A-No. 1|1949-A-No.11949City and County of DenverSotheby's, New York