Top 10 Most Expensive Paintings of All Time

Our world is rich in the arts. People of our world are passionate about the arts. Arts may be in different forms. Painting is one of the symbols and properties of the arts.

The arts of the painting show our history in the form of painting. The art of painting is adapted from our ancestors’ time. These paintings tell us about our ancestor’s life and these also reflect the culture and beliefs of ancient times. 

Many artists from different parts of the world show their art through the painting. Many paintings were created in this world but only a few of them are only popular among the people. In this article, we are going to describe some of the most expensive paintings in the world that have been sold. 

Here is the list of the top 10 most expensive paintings of all time:

10. Nu couché

Nu couché is a famous nude painting of a girl that was painted by the Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani. It was painted in 1917 by oil on canvas method.

Oil on canvas is the method of painting with drying oil as the binder materials in different pigments. Drying oil commonly includes linseed oil, poppy seed oil, walnut, and safflower oil.

Amedeo Modigliani was a famous Jewish painter and is well known for portraits and nudes paintings. Nu couché is the most widely reproduced and exhibited painting in the world. The original size of this painting is 60 cm * 92 cm (24 In * 36 In).

This painting is one of the most expensive paintings in the world which was realized in $17,405,000 in Christie’s New York sale on 9th November 2015. The purchaser and owner of this painting is chinese businessman Liu Yiqian.

9. Les Femmes d’Alger (“Version O”)

Les Femmes d’Alger (“Version O”) is one of the paintings from the series of 15 paintings of the Les Femmes d’Alger. These paintings were painted by the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso during the years 1954-1955.

The painter of these paintings was inspired by Eugene Delacroix’s and several paintings of this series are painted in the tribute to artists that Pablo Picasso admired.

Les Femmes d’Alger “Version O” is one of the famous paintings from this series and the final painting in the series. The dimension of the painting sheet is 114 cm * 146.4 cm (45 in * 57.6 in).

This painting was sold for $179.4 million at auction in Christie’s New York on 11th May 2015. This painting was brought by the former prime minister of Qatar, Hamad bin Jassim Jaber Al Thani.

8. Pendant portraits of Maerten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit 

The Pendant portraits of Maerten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit are the pair of the full-length wedding paintings which were painted by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn. Rembrandt was a painter, draughtsman and printmaker of present Netherlands.

These paintings were painted by the medium of Oil on canvas. They were painted in 1634. These were painted on the occasion of the marriage of Marten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit in 1634.

Paintings were formerly owned by the Rothschild family. The dimension of the Portrait of Marten Soolmans painting is 209.5 cm * 135.5 cm and the size of the portrait of Oopjen Coppit is 210 cm * 134.5 cm.

The paintings were sold in September 2015 in a private sale at $180 million. The owners of these paintings are jointly Rijksmuseum and Louvre Museum. 

7. No.6 (Violet, Green and Red)

No.6 is generally painted in 3 colors (Violet, Green and Red). It was painted by Latvian-American abstract expressionist artist Mark Rothko in 1951.

Mark Rothko was an American painter of Latvian Jewish descent who was born on September 25, 1903. The medium of this painting is oil on canvas.

This painting became one of the most expensive paintings sold at auction in 2014. The painting was sold at $186 million in a private sale by Chrustian Moueix with the help of Yves Bouvier.

The buyer of this painting is Dmitry Yevgenyevich Rybolovlev. Dmitry is a businessman and investor in Russia. Dmitry placed this painting in this private collection.

6. Wasserschlangen II

Wasserschlangen II is also known as water serpents II is an oil painting that was painted by Gustav Klimt. This painting was painted during the year 1904 to 1907.

This painting was painted by oil on canvas medium. Gustav was an Austrian symbolist painter. This painting follows the earlier painting water serpents I. 

This painting deals with the sensuality of women’s bodies and same-sex relationships like the first painting. This painting was stolen by the Nazis during the time of world war II. The size of this painting is 80 cm * 145 cm (31 in * 57 in).

This painting was sold in private sales in 2013 by Yves Bouvier to Dmitry Rybolovlev. Rybolovlev brought this painting at $183.3 million. Rybolovlev sold this painting in 2015 at the cost of $170 million to an undisclosed buyer.

5. Number 17A

Number 17A is oil on fiberboard painting which is painted by Jackson Pollock. Jackson was an American painter. He is widely popular for this art or technique of pouring liquid household paint on a horizontal surface.

This technique of painting is also called action painting. Jackson painted this painting in 1948.   

Fiberboard paintings were not popular at that time and have low market value in these arts. Nowadays, Fiberboard paintings are also more popular like other paintings.

Number 17A was sold in September 2015 by David Geffen Foundation at the cost of $200 million. This painting was brought by Kenneth C. Griffin. At this cost, this painting becomes the 5th most expensive painting in the world.

4. Nafea Faa Ipoipo (When Will You Marry?)

Nafea Faa Ipoipo is an oil painting that is also known as ‘When Will You Marry’ in English. This painting was painted by Paul Gauguin in 1892.

Paul was a French painter who was born on 7th June 1848. The medium of painting is Oil on Canvas. This is the painting of native women of Tahiti. 

Gauguin also painted many paintings of the native women in cultural dress, nude and in many other ways during his tour of Tahiti. The dimension of this painting is 101 cm * 77 cm  (40 in * 30 in).

This painting was sold by the family of Rudolf Staechelin at the cost of $210 million in February 2015. This painting was brought by Sheikha Al- Thani at a private sale.

3. The Card Players 

The Card Players is one of the famous paintings of a series of five oil paintings. These paintings were painted by the French artist Paul Cezanne.

These paintings were painted during 1894 to 1895. Every version of these paintings differs from each other. The artist of these paintings was born in Aix-en-Provence, France on 19th January 1839.

In April 2011, One of the versions from the ‘The card Players’ series painting was sold by George Embiricos at the cost of $250 million in a private sale. This is the estimated cost of painting but the real cost never told in the media.

The buyer of this painting is the Royal Family of Qatar. This is the 3rd most expensive painting in the world as per record.

2. Interchange

Interchange is an oil painting which was painted by the Dutch-American Willem de Kooning. Kooning was born in the Netherlands on 24th April 1904 and in 1926, he moved to the United States.

He is one of the artists of the Abstract expressionism movement. This painting was completed in 1955. The method used in this painting is Oil on Canvas. 

The size of this painting is 200.7 cm * 175.3 cm (79.0 in * 69.0 in). Kooning was inspired by his fellow artist Franz Kline for this painting.

This painting was sold by David Geffen Foundation in September 2015. It is sold at the cost of $300 million. This painting was brought by Kenneth Cordele Griffin. It was the most expensive painting in the world until November 2017.

1. Salvator Mundi 

Salvator Mundi is one of the famous paintings in the world which is painted by the famous Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. Leonardo painted this painting in the 1500 century.

Salvator Mundi depicts Jesus making the sign of the cross with his right hand and also carrying a transparent crystal orb in his left hand in Renaissance dress. The medium of this painting is Oil on walnut panels.

The size of this painting is 45.4 cm * 65.6 cm (25.8 in * 19.2 in). It was thought to be a copy of the original painting but most of the leading scholars have considered it as the original painting of Leonardo.

This painting was sold by seller Dimitry Rybolovlev at the cost of $450.3 million on November 15, 2017, at Christie’s, New York. This painting was brought by Saudi Prince Badr bin Abdullah on behalf of Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism.

Final words

In this article, you have read about the top 10 most expensive paintings in the world. These are the list of sold paintings only but many of the unsold paintings in this world have a higher value than these sold paintings.

I personally think all the paintings listed above are great but I want to know about your favourite paintings. So don’t forget to comment about your favourite painting from the list in the comment box below. Thank You!