From Da Vinci to Monet: 16 of the most expensive paintings ever sold
Claude Monet's 1890 oil painting Meules was sold at a Sotheby’s auction in New York last week after only eight minutes for US$110.7 million – a record price for a work by the French Impressionist painter.
Last May, Sotheby’s New York broke its own sales record after selling Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani’s Nu couché (sur le côté gauche) for US$157.2 million.
However, neither of those paintings even comes close to the top prices paid for some other works of art, such as a painting attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, which was sold for US$450.3 million in 2017.
Check out the 16 most expensive paintings that have been sold at auctions or in private sales.
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16. Claude Monet’s Meules
Date sold: March 15, 2019
Price: US$110.7 million
Type of sale: Sotheby’s New York, auction
15. Jackson Pollock’s No. 5, 1948
Date sold: November 2, 2006
Price: US$140 million
Type of sale: private sale via Sotheby’s
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14. Francis Bacon’s Three Studies of Lucian Freud
Date sold: November 12, 2013
Price: US$142.4 million
Type of sale: Christie’s, New York, auction
13. Gustav Klimt’s Adele Bloch-Bauer II
Date sold: 2016
Price: US$150 million
Type of sale: private sale via Larry Gagosian
12. Pablo Picasso’s Le Rêve
Date sold: March 26, 2013
Price: US$155 million
Type of sale: private
11. Amedeo Modigliani’s Nu couché (sur le côté gauche)
Date sold: May 14, 2018
Price: US$157.2 million
Type of sale: Sotheby’s auction
STYLE Edit: Banksy’s ‘This is a pipe’ could be yours at Christie's
10. Roy Lichtenstein’s Masterpiece
Date sold: January 2017
Price: US$165 million
Type of sale: private
9. Amedeo Modigliani’s Nu Couché
Date sold: November 9, 2015
Price: US$170.4 million
Type of sale: Christie’s, New York, auction
8. Picasso’s Les Femmes d’Alger (Version O)
Date sold: May 11, 2015
Price: US$179.4 million
Type of sale: Christie’s, New York auction
7. Rembrandt’s Pendant portraits of Maerten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit
Date sold: September 2015
Price: US$180 million
Type of sale: private
STYLE Edit: Banksy’s ‘This is a pipe’ could be yours at Christie's
6. Mark Rothko’s No. 6 (Violet, Green and Red)
Date sold: August 2014
Price: US$186 million
Type of sale: private sale via Yves Bouvier
5. Pollock’s Number 17A
Date sold: September 2015
Price: US$200 million
Type of sale: private
4. Paul Gauguin’s Nafea Faa Ipoipo (When Will You Marry?)
Date sold: September 2014
Price: US$210 million
Type of sale: private
3. Paul Cézanne’s The Card Players
Date sold: April 2011
Price: US$250 million
Type of sale: private
STYLE Edit: ‘US$5.1 million’ masterpiece up for auction
2. Willem de Kooning’s Interchange
Date sold: September 2015
Price: US$300 million
Type of sale: private
1. Painting attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, Salvator Mundi
Date sold: November 15, 2017
Price: US$450.3 million
Type of sale: Christie’s, New York, auction
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This article originally appeared on Business Insider.
- Claude Monet’s painting, Meules, went for US$107.7 million at auction last week ... yet that’s far behind record price – paid for a work attributed to Leonardo da Vinci