Most Expensive Paintings: List of Top 20 Auction Prices For Fine Art Painting

The World's Most Expensive Paintings (Part 2)
A list of the Top 20 most valuable works of art sold at auction, or privately, featuring canvases by great artists like: Peter Paul Rubens, Mark Rothko, Claude Monet, Andy Warhol, Vincent Van Gogh, Willem de Kooning, Paul Cezanne and Pablo Picasso. Of these record-breaking paintings, one was painted in the 17th Century, four in the 19th Century and five in the 20th Century. It includes two abstract expressionist works, four landscape/ still-life, two portraits, one silkscreen ink and acrylic and one representational history painting. The most successful artists are Van Gogh (4 in Top 20), and Picasso (3 in Top 20). Please click resources provided, for biographical details of these famous painters and the history of their works.
Encyclopedia of Irish and World Art - HOMEPAGE

The Girl with the Pearl Earring
(1665) by Dutch Realist Vermeer.
The Hague: Mauritshuis Museum

Top 20 Sales Records

The Top 10

(1) No. 5, 1948 (1948) By Jackson Pollock. ($140 million)
(2) Woman III (1953) By Willem de Kooning. ($137.5 million)
(3) Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I (1907) By Gustav Klimt. ($135 million)
(4) Garçon à la Pipe (1905) By Pablo Picasso. ($104.2 million)
(5) Dora Maar with Cat (1941) By Pablo Picasso. ($95.2 million)
(6) Adele Bloch-bauer II (1912) By Gustav Klimt. ($87.9 million)
(7) Triptych (1976) By Francis Bacon. ($86.3 million)
(8) Portrait of Dr. Gachet (1890) By Vincent Van Gogh. ($82.5 million)
(9) False Start (1959) By Jasper Johns. ($80 million)
(10) Bal Au Moulin de la Galette (1876) By Renoir. ($78.1 million).

• For details of these works, see Top 10 Most Expensive Paintings.

11. Massacre of the Innocents (1611)
By Peter Paul Rubens.
$76.7 million (£49.5m) (2002)
Sotheby's, London

The Next 10

11. Massacre of the Innocents (1611)
• Painted by Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640).
• Sold at auction in 2002, for $76.7 million.
• Seller: Austrian art collector. Buyer: Kenneth Thomson.

Smashing its pre-sale estimate of £5 million, this work by the Flemish Baroque artist is the most expensive painting by an Old Master. It was purchased by Lord Thomson who later donated it to the Art Gallery of Ontario, Canada. This superb piece of representational art depicts one of the most savage events of biblical history - the massacre of all new-born boys, ordered by Herod to prevent the emergence of a Messiah. One of the great examples of Baroque history painting, it contains all Rubens' usual themes: movement, muscle, flesh and above all, emotion. Look at his use of diagonals, colour contrasts and relationships between subjects - all of which help to activate and involve the spectator.

12. White Center (Yellow, Pink and
Lavender on Rose) (1950)
By Mark Rothko.
$72.8 million (2007)
Sotheby's, New York

12.White Center (Yellow, Pink and Lavender on Rose) (1950)
• Painted by Mark Rothko (1903-70).
• Sold at auction in 2007, for $72.8 million.
• Seller: David Rockefeller. Buyer: Qatar Royal family.

Another glorious example of modern American art, this signature work by the leader of the Colour Field style of Abstract Expressionism, Mark Rothko is the second most expensive post-war painting sold at auction, after Francis Bacon's Triptych. Art critics consider it to be the first major example of Rothko's famous 'multiform' style. It was in the winter of 1948-9 that Rothko (born Marcus Rothkowitz) stumbled across his multiform concept, in which blocks of contrasting but complementary colour are arranged vertically on huge canvases, in order to overwhelm or envelop the spectator. After applying a thin mixture of binder and color pigment onto an untreated canvas, he would add layer after layer of thinned oils to produce a dense bed of overlapping colour and shape. Although he began with rich vibrant colour schemes, he later turned to more muted colours - a sign, according to some, of his growing depression. A heavy drinker, smoker and bad-eater, Rothko committed suicide at the age of 66 by taking an overdose of anti-depressants and slashing his wrists with a razor.

13. Le Bassin aux Nympheas (1919)
By Claude Monet.
$72 million (£40.9m) (2008)
Christie's, London

13. Le Bassin aux Nympheas (1919)
• Painted by Claude Monet (1840-1926).
• Sold at auction in 2008, for $72 million.
• Seller: unknown. Buyer: unknown.

One of the great Impressionist landscape paintings by one of the world's most famous artists, this work is an outstanding large-scale example of Claude Monet's Waterlilies series. It features the famous Japanese bridge in Monet's water garden at Giverny, which the artist reproduced on countless occasions, demonstrating his fascination with plein-air painting and his pursuit of pure Impressionism.

Le Bassin aux Nympheas is the most expensive painting by Monet and the second most expensive work of Impressionism after Renoir's Bal au Moulin de la Galette. It exemplifies the artist's lifelong attempt to master the replication of light: a task he continued to pursue until the very end.

14. Green Car Crash (1963)
By Andy Warhol.
$71.7 million (2007)
Christie's, New York

GREATEST ARTISTS
For a list of the Top 10 and Top 20
of the greatest painters & sculptors:
Best Artists of All Time: Top 10.

14. Green Car Crash (Green Burning Car I) (1963)
• Painted by Andy Warhol (1928-87).
• Sold at auction in 2007, for $71.7 million.
• Seller: David Rockefeller. Buyer: unknown.

Arguably the first example of postmodernism, and the second most expensive piece of contemporary art (after Bacon's Triptych), this composition (employing synthetic polymer, silkscreen ink and acrylic on linen) was hammered down two days after Rothko's White Centre work, during Christie's 2007 record-breaking sale of contemporary art. The high price-tag was due in part to a heated bidding war between two buyers. It is the most expensive work by Andy Warhol, the leader of the Pop-Art movement. It belongs to the artist's famous 'Death and Disaster' series of works (1962-4), based on gruesome tabloid images of fatal accidents, suicides, and race riots, as well as such morbid iconography as electric chairs and atomic explosions. One sub-set of the series features car crashes, of which this work is a prize exhibit. It was based on an image, published in Newsweek magazine, which captured the aftermath of a fatal crash during which the driver was hurled from the vehicle and impaled on a spike.

15. Portrait de l'Artiste Sans Barbe (1889)
By Vincent van Gogh.
$71.5 million (1998)
Christie's, New York

15. Portrait de l'artiste sans barbe (1889)
• Painted by Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890).
• Sold at auction in 1998, for $71.5 million.
• Seller: Family of Jacques Koerfer. Buyer: unknown.

This work by the short-lived Dutch Post-Impressionist genius became the third most expensive painting ever sold at auction, when it was bought by an anonymous buyer in 1998, effectively reigniting the art market after the doldrums of the mid-1990s. Although not considered a masterpiece of Van Gogh's oeuvre, it is a unique self-portrait - since in all other self-portraits he is bearded - which gives us an unusually frank glimpse of the artist.

Painted in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, in Autumn 1889, Portrait of the Artist Without a Beard is one of four works by Van Gogh which appear in the World's Top 20 Most Expensive Paintings. Not bad for an artist who sold almost nothing during his lifetime.

16. Police Gazette (1955)
By Willem de Kooning.
$63.5 million (2006)
Private Sale

16. Police Gazette (1955)
• Painted by Willem de Kooning (1904-97).
• Sold privately in 2006, for $63.5 million.
• Seller: David Geffen. Buyer: Steven A. Cohen.

Another fantastically high-priced work of abstract art by the Dutch/ American Expressionist de Kooning. Executed in oils, enamel, and charcoal on canvas, it is considered by critics to be one of his most complex landscapes. It was purchased from the artist Sidney Janis and eventually found its way to auction in 1973 where it attracted a record bid of $180,000 from the European dealer Ernst Beyeler. Given its present reported price of $63.5 million, it has appreciated in value 352 times, over 35 years. Not bad for a painting which (I suspect) few people would claim to understand, far less appreciate. I certainly don't.

17. Rideau, Cruchon et Compotier (1894)
By Paul Cézanne.
$60.5 million (1999)
Sotheby's, New York.

17. Rideau, Cruchon et Compotier (1894)
• Painted by Paul Cézanne (1839-1906).
• Sold at auction in 1999, for $60.5 million.
• Seller: Whitney Family. Buyer: unknown.

Considered by critics to be one of the greatest examples of still life painting by the greatest exponent of the genre since the 18th century, this work by the French Post-Impressionist Paul Cézanne is the most expensive still life in the history of art. One of more than 200 such works completed by the artist, Rideau, Cruchon et Compotier is an early example of his structured block-like style, which anticipated the Cubism of Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. As in most of Cézanne's still lifes, the composition makes no attempt to capture the naturalistic reality of the fruit. There is no sensation of smell, taste or 'fruitiness'. Ironically, Cézanne usually worked at such a snail's pace that most of the fruit in his composition went rotten long before it was finished!

18. A Wheatfield with Cypresses (1889)
By Vincent van Gogh.
$57 million (1993)
Private Sale

18. A Wheatfield, with Cypresses (1889)
• Painted by Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890).
• Sold privately in 1993, for $57 million.
• Seller: Son of Emil Georg Buhrle. Buyer: Walter H. Annenberg.

Purchased mid-recession by the philanthropist Walter Annenberg, this outstanding landscape painting now hangs in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. It is one of three versions of the same scene, completed by Van Gogh while resident at the Saint-Rémy-de-Provence mental institution, near Arles. A slightly later version, also painted in oils, resides in the National Gallery London, and a reed-pen drawing of the same view is in the Van Gogh Museum Amsterdam. The artist himself considered A Wheatfield With Cypresses to be one of his best summer landscapes, perhaps due to his improved mood which is evident from the sunny colours, non-aggressive brushwork and overall warmth of the work.

19. Femme aux Bras Croisés (1902)
By Pablo Picasso.
$55 million (2000)
Christie's, New York

19. Femme aux Bras Croisés (1902)
• Painted by Pablo Picasso (1881-1973).
• Sold at auction in 2000, for $55 million.
• Seller: McCormick family. Buyer: unknown.

Not an iconic masterpiece of his Blue Period to compare with La Vie (1903), The Old Guitarist (1903), La Celestina (1904), or Blue Nude (1904), Woman with Folded Arms is still a beautifully haunting portrait from Picasso's early life in Paris. The exact identity of the subject is unknown, but reputedly she was an inmate of the Parisian hospital-prison at Saint-Lazare, who had tried to commit suicide and now sits listlessly with no interest in her life or surroundings. Originally purchased from the artist by the American emigré and novelist Gertrude Stein, this Picasso Portrait became one of the world's most expensive works of art when auctioned in 2000. As late as 2004, it was one of five Picasso's in the Top 10 most highly priced paintings sold at auction: the list included, Garçon à la Pipe ($104.2 million), Femme aux bras croisés ($55 million), Femme assise dans un jardin ($49.6 million), Les noces de Pierrette ($49.3 million), Le Rêve ($48.4 million).

20. Irises (1889)
By Vincent Van Gogh.
$53.9 million (1987)
Sotheby's, New York

WORLDS TOP ARTISTS
For the greatest view painters, see:
Best Landcape Artists.
For the greatest still life art, see:
Best Still Life Painters.
For the greatest portraitists
see: Best Portrait Artists.
For the greatest genre-painting, see:
Best Genre Painters.
For the top allegorical painting,
see: Best History Painters.

FACT ABOUT THE ART MARKET
Auction Houses Christie's and
Sotheby's control 95 percent of
global fine art auction sales.
See also Irish Art Market.

For details of the top-priced works
by artists from Ireland, see:
Most Expensive Irish Paintings.

20. Irises (1889)
• Painted by Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890).
• Sold at auction in 1987, for $53.9 million (1853-1890).
• Seller: Joan Whitney. Buyer: Alan Bond. (Now in Getty Museum).

Irises became the world's most expensive oil painting when auctioned to Australian tycoon Alan Bond in 1987. It was later resold, reputedly at a lower price, to the J Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, and now even its top price only just qualifies for inclusion in the Top 20.

Like Wheatfield With Cypresses, this work was painted by Van Gogh during his stay at the asylum of Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, a year before his eventual suicide. As usual, its composition gives a clue to the mind of the artist. The tangle of muted green stalks and untidy blue caps of the flowers signals a distinctly negative mood, with only a hint of more optimistic yellow in the background. A far cry from his more cheerful Sunflower series.

Other Record-Breaking Works of Art

Rumours and unconfirmed reports of other world record sales are not uncommon in the international art market. Among many such stories, here are two of the most credible.

Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear (1889) - By Vincent Van Gogh

This unique Post-Impressionist painting was reputedly acquired by the Niarchos family for $90 million from the art collection of Chicago industrialist Leigh B. Block in Chicago.

Portrait of Alfonso d'Avalos (1533) - By Titian

A figure of $70 million was allegedly paid in 2004 for this outstanding masterpiece by Tiziano Vecellio (Titian), perhaps the greatest painter of the High Renaissance. The work was sold by the Louvre Museum in Paris to the J Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles.

• For more details of visual culture in Ireland, see: Irish Art Encyclopedia.
• For a personal view of the top contemporary painters in Ireland, see: Best Irish Artists.