Have you guys ever thought about how much is the most expensive painting in the world? The super prevalent artwork which is found in museums and private collections around the world is priceless. There are many paintings with a price tag of over USD 100 million for one image. So, almost all painters of the most expensive paintings ever sold have passed away and won’t be able to create something like this ever. Its because the price of these paintings rises with time.
Every year the prices in the art market climb up. Here I represent to your attention the group of TOP five most luxurious and expensive paintings in the world.
1. SALVATOR MUNDI, ATTRIBUTED TO LEONARDO DA VINCI – $450,300,000Â
Leonardo da Vinci painted salvator Mundi. The painting grants Jesus Christ dressed in Renaissance garbs and bestowing benediction. And his right hand was raised with two fingers crossed while holding a crystal ball in his left hand. The glass globe in his hand symbolizes crystalline spheres of the heavens. The price of these paintings was estimated initially at $ 100 million, this oil painting costing around 1500 and auctioned by Christie’s in November 2017 broke an absolute record: $ 450.3 million. It was the first works by Leonardo da Vinci, and this painting has long been talked about for the mystery that surrounds it.
2. NAFEA FAA IPO IPO (WHEN WILL YOU MARRY?), PAUL GAUGUIN – $210,000,000Â
When are you getting married was painted by Paul Gauguin in 1892 in French Polynesia is currently the most expensive painting in the world. It is also known for being one of the leaders of abstract expressionism. In February 2015, the portrait of two Tahitian girls cracked the world record. That time it was bought by the Qatar museums from a private Swiss collector Rudolf Staechelin for a surprising price like USD 300 million. It portrays two women against a natural landscape, one in a native dress and another in a colonial-style missionary dress, signifying the fusion of Polynesian and European cultures.
3.NO. 17A, 1948, JACKSON POLLOCK – $200,000,000Â
Father of abstract expressionism, Jackson Pollock is famous for his dripping technique. This piece of abstract work was created in 1948 and was featured in 1947. The life magazine article that made the painting a domestic name. The title of painting Number 17A is in sharp contrast with its content. It was a post-WWII art movement that highlights the subconscious and spontaneous creation. Done on fiberboard canvas using just oil paints, Number 17A looks like a messy mirage of patterns and colors. In 2016 when billionaire art collector Kenneth C. Griffin purchased the piece for approx. $200 million that Number 17A was revived as the fourth most expensive painting ever sold in history.
4. THE CARD PLAYERS, PAUL CEZANNE – $250,000,000Â
This portrait held the record for the most expensive one in the world before the sale of When Will You Married in 2015. The Qatari royal family had bought the Card Players from the Greek shipping magnate George Embiricos for a whopping USD 274 million in 2011. This painting is one of those classic images that you surely would not fail to recognize. It is an image that has been seen in coffee table books, good luxury magazines, and art history curricula for many years now.
5. NU COUCHE, AMEDEO MODIGLIANI – $170,400,000Â
Nu Couché, aka the Red Nude or the Reclining Nude, is a 1917 oil-on-canvas painting by Amedeo Modigliani. The picture of the naked woman lying on the couch looks erotically realistic yet has a surreal, almost sublime beauty that catches the viewer off-guard. Though inspired by the Italian Renaissance depictions of Venus and other female figures, the painting has a modern twist to it. Unlike the definitions of classical artworks, where the nudity is not used as a metaphor or an allegory to establish the woman’s purity. In 2012, the painting was acquired by Russian businessman and collector Dmitry Rybolovlev from billionaire Stephen Cohen of S.A.C. Capital Advisors for $118 million
