Artworks today are fetching incredible, mind-boggling prices.
From Rembrandt to Picasso, we take a look at some of the most expensive artworks ever sold.
Known for his love of Tahiti Paul Gauguin painted Nafea Faa Ipoipo (When Will You Marry?) in 1892. Fast-forward over 120 years and this work depicting two women among a colourful landscape was sold in a private sale for about $300 million, making it the most expensive work ever sold.
Paul Cézanne painted five versions of The Card Players throughout his career, with the majority of them in world-renowned museum collections. In 2012, the world learned that one version was sold in 2011 at an astonishing price of over $250 million, which, at the time, was the most expensive painting ever sold.
The abstract work No 6. (Violet, Green and Red) by American painter Mark Rothko sold in a private sale for $186 million. Depicting Rothko’s classic boldly coloured rectangular shapes, the painting was purchased by Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev through art dealer Yves Bouvier in 2014. However, No. 6 has since been part of a legal dispute as Rybolovlev believes Bouvier mislead him about the price of the work.
A pair of paintings that most agree should always be displayed together, the Portrait of Marten Soolmans and Portrait of Oopjen Coppit, a couple, was painted by Rembrandt in 1634. Owned by the Rothschild family, the Rijksmuseum and the Louvre will be jointly purchasing these two works for approximately $180 million. Paris and Amsterdam will each take turns displaying these beautiful, treasured artworks.
Sold in May 2015 at a Christie’s auction, Pablo Picasso’s Les Femmes D’Alger (Version ‘O’) fetched a whopping $179.3 million. Inspired by Delacroix's Les Femmes D'Alger, Picasso painted 15 different versions, with 'O' being the last in 1955. Rumours have it that the former prime minister of Qatar, Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabar Al Thani, owns it.
| No | Artist | Painting | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Paul Cézanne | The Card Players | $250 million |
| 3 | Mark Rothko | No. 6 (Violet, Green and Red) | $186 million |
| 4 | Rembrandt | Portrait of Marten Soolmans and Portrait of Oopjen Coppit | $180 million |
| 5 | Pablo Picasso | Les Femmes D’Alger (Version 'O') | $179.3 million |
| 6 | Amedeo Modigliani | Nu couché | $170.4 million |
| 7 | Jackson Pollock | No. 5, 1948 | $140 million |
| 8 | Willem de Kooning | Woman III | $137.5 million |
| 9 | Gustav Klimt | Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I | $135 million |
| 10 | Pablo Picasso | Le Rêve | $155 million |