Most Expensive Paintings Ever Sold that Fetched Millions

The world of art holds priceless masterpieces that showcase human creativity and imagination. Assigning a specific financial value to these pieces can be difficult due to their uniqueness and historical significance. Given the subjective nature of art, determining an accurate monetary value for these one-of-a-kind masterpieces can be difficult. Nevertheless, the art market occasionally experiences remarkable transactions where paintings exchange hands for extravagant sums. 

These exceptional pieces of art demonstrate the deep emotional and cultural impact that art can have on humans, surpassing monetary value and representing a worth much beyond their price tags.  Here we are going to look at the top 10 most expensive paintings in the world, ranging from hailed Old Masters to contemporary masterpieces.

 List of the Most Famous Paintings in the World

Here are the 10 world famous paintings that fetched hundreds of millions. Let’s take a look at these:

Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci

The Mona Lisa, painted by Leonardo da Vinci, is considered one of the most famous paintings in the whole world. It has been described as “the best known, most visited, most written about, most sung about, and most mimicked work of art in the world.” The painting was commissioned in 1503 but stayed in Leonardo’s possession until he died; it later changed hands several times before becoming part of France’s royal collection.

Although it was sold in the 1900s for 100 million dollars but today it is worth more than 850 million and some may believe it is worth around 1 billion dollars. The Mona Lisa is famous not just for its beauty, but also for its technical brilliance. Leonardo used innovative methods such as sfumato to generate genuine texture and depth. Aside from its visual worth, the Mona Lisa is significant culturally, spawning different artistic versions and signifying art’s ability to endure through time. Read more about he most valuable and exclusively rarest gemstones in the world.

Salvator Mundi – Leonardo Da Vinci 450.3

Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi depicts Jesus Christ holding a crystal ball. The artwork is half-length, with only Jesus’ torso and head visible. Jesus wears a blue gown and a red cloak, and he has a long, brownish beard. He has a crystal ball in his left hand and is forming the cross with his right hand.

The painting, which dates from around 1500, is one of Leonardo da Vinci’s rare surviving masterpieces. In 2017, it was auctioned off for 450 million dollars. As a result, it was the most expensive artwork ever sold at the time. The photograph was gone for over 137 years before resurfacing, raising lots of suspicions about its legitimacy. The painting’s claim to be by Leonardo da Vinci caused dispute. Some academics believe it is a genuine Leonardo, while others say it is a copy or work by a pupil of Leonardo. But, the picture, was certified by a team of experts which was led by Martin Kemp, a well-known Leonardo specialist. The painting is now on display in the Louvre Abu Dhabi. Read more about the expensive artists in the world that their net worth is much more then their fortune.

Interchange – Willem de Kooning

Willem de Kooning’s artwork is the most expensive piece of contemporary art ever sold. It sold for the highest sum ever paid for a painting at the time. The big pink mass in the painting’s center portrays a reclining lady. This abstract art picture was the first to mark De Kooning’s transition from painting abstractions of ladies to abstract landscapes. In 2015, David Geffen famously sold this artwork, together with Jackson Pollock’s Number 17A, to American billionaire hedge fund manager Kenneth C Griffin for $500 million. Read more about about highest paid entertainers that your must know who are artists as well.

The Card Players – Paul Cézanne

From 2011 until 2015, Paul Cézanne’s The Card Players was the most expensive artwork in the world. This version is an oil painting from Paul Cézanne’s series of five Post-Impressionist works. Each painting differs somewhat in terms of the number of individuals at the table, the location of the game, and even the size of the canvases. This version of the series was privately sold for over $250 million (equal to around $269 million in today’s currency) in 2011, making it the most expensive painting at the time. While the Royal Family of Qatar purchased one replica, another is held at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, France.

Nafea Faa Ipoipo (When Will You Marry?) – Paul Gauguin

In 1891, Paul Gauguin visited Tahiti for the first time and fell in love with the island and its people. One year later, he completed Nafea Faa Ipoipo, a costly Post-Impressionist painting featuring two Tahitian ladies in a brilliant and lively setting. But how did Gauguin come there on such a remote island? Vincent van Gogh was a close friend of Paul Gauguin. They lived together for a while and painted diverse interpretations of the same topics. However, after a dispute between the two, Paul Gauguin fled to Paris and subsequently to Tahiti. Just that if you don’t know Nafea Faa Ipoipo was only sold for 7 francs the first time following Gauguin’s death.  Read more about the most expensive fashion shows worldwide that will leave you amazed.

Number 17A – Jackson Pollock

Number 17A is the world’s most pricey drip painting. This abstract expressionism piece was made in 1948, a year after Jackson Pollock pioneered his drip painting technique. The artwork is a drip painting done by spraying paint over a horizontal surface of oil paint on a fiberboard.  The painting was published in the August 1949 issue of Life, making Jackson Pollock famous. It is owned by hedge fund manager Kenneth C. Griffin, who bought it from David Geffen in September 2015 for $200 million, a then-record price, at which time it was lent to the Art Institute of Chicago. It is placed fifth on the list of most valuable artworks as of September 2022.

Wasserschlangen II

Gustav Klimt’s Wasserschlangen II, commonly known as Water Serpents II, is a vivid and costly piece of art. He completed it in 1907, shortly after finishing his Water Serpents I oil painting. The picture depicts a group of four water nymphs in sexual pleasure. Two are seen in full nudity in the foreground; the other two may be located in the upper right corner of the painting, with only their heads visible. The picture can be viewed as a non-controversial depiction of mythological beings, as has been done for millennia in art.

 The artwork has an interesting backstory. It was taken by the Nazis during WWII, and it has lately been at the heart of a debate over its record 2013 sale. As of December 2019, it is the world’s seventh most expensive painting and the most expensive Klimt piece to sell.

No. 6 (Violet, Green, and Red)

Mark Rothko, a 20th-century art legend, was known for his Color Field paintings, which were brilliant, rectangular canvases that depicted diverse emotions via color. This expensive piece of art remains loyal to the artist’s style. The canvas for No. 6 is red with a violet square on top and a green strip below it. The color edges have all been smoothed and darkened. This abstract art painting was made in 1951 and sold for $186 million in 2014 from Cherise Moueix’s private collection. No. 6 by Rothko has been the subject of a court struggle known as the Bouvier Affair since its last sale. Russian billionaire Rybolovlev and other art buyers claimed that art dealer Yves Bouvier misled them while selling high-value items.

Pendant portraits of Maerten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit – Rembrandt

In 1634, Rembrandt created portraits of newlyweds Maerten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit. The painter was only 28 at the time, and the couple were two of his early customers. Rembrandt’s only full-length paintings are these two portraits. Their last public exhibition before being sold to museums occurred in 1956, while they were still in private hands. The two paintings were purchased jointly by the Louvre in France and the Rijksmuseum in the Netherlands. However, an intergovernmental convention demands that the artworks be presented as a group. This implies that the artworks will be kept at each museum for eight years before being transferred to the other.

Les Femmes d’Alger, Paul Picasso

Pablo Picasso’s Les Femmes d’Alger (English: Women of Algiers) is a set of 15 paintings and several sketches. The Women of Algiers in Their Apartment (French: Femmes d’Alger dans leur appartement), painted by Eugène Delacroix in 1834, inspired the 1954-1955 series. The series is one of numerous that Picasso created in tribute to painters he loved. Victor and Sally Ganz purchased the full series of Les Femmes d’Alger from Galerie Louise Leiris in Paris in June 1956 for $212,500 (equal to $2.3 million in 2022). The Ganzs later sold ten paintings from the series to the Saidenberg Gallery, with the couple keeping versions “C”, “H”, “K”, “M”, and “O”.