Just a few minutes after the auction had started, one of Claude Monet’s works was bought by an unknown person for an exorbitant amount of money – more than $100 million. However, this picture is only a drop in the ocean among numerous valuable and pricey pictures in the world, some that you might not know.
For this reason, WoWPencils has prepared a list of the most expensive paintings that have ever been sold at auction or privately; in addition, you will find fascinating information about popular paintings that achieved a record price and a selection of the most luxurious paintings that are available on Amazon.
Valuable Paintings Ever Sold More Than $100 Million
A piece of art created by a notable painter has always been considered to be a trophy. Thus, numerous people hunt these trophies at auctions such as Sotheby’s, Christie’s, Doyle New York, Bonhams, Hampel, Artsy, etc. for various purposes, whether to have it among a huge collection at home, to exhibit this piece of art to people, or just to have and sell it again and get some profit from this deal. Now, you will find out more about such paintings and how much money collectors have spent in order to have one in their collection. Stay with WoWPencils!
$450.3M – “Salvator Mundi”, Leonardo da Vinci
The most expensive painting ever sold is Leonardo Da Vinci’s work that is called Salvator Mundi. This painting was sold at Christie’s sale. In November 2017, it was bought by a Saudi prince for more than $450 million.
Unfortunately, Saudi Prince Bader bin Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Farhan al-Saud is the last owner who saw this picture. In the fall of 2018, the painting had to be exhibited at the Louvre that is in Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, but nobody has ever seen it since.
Moreover, there is no news concerning where the painting is now.
In fact, this artwork had a quite shameful history, especially in the 20th century. In other words, this work is long-suffering. First, it was defiled in the late 50s when it was sold for no more than $100, the reason being that it was considered to be created by da Vinci’s follower Bernardino Luini. Since that time, all the scientists and critics were shocked in 2005, when the painting appeared again and was carefully examined at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
In 2011, Salvator Mundi was exhibited in London, and a few years later Dmitry Rybolovlev (a Russian businessman) bought it from a Swiss art collector. That’s how this painting appeared at Christie’s sale in 2017 – the businessman’s family decided to sell it at auction. Nobody had even thought that the price would rise up to such an enormous amount.
$300M – “Interchange”, Willem de Kooning
The next most expensive artwork was finished by Willem de Kooning, an American artist with Dutch roots, in 1955. This work is called Interchange and was made with oil. Its dimensions are 79 by 69 inches. There is an abstract vision of landscape, which can be considered de Kooning’s experiment.
In fact, this painting is the first among his works that illustrated something different from the human body. Indeed, his previous works were dedicated to a woman’s body, thus the names are pretty obvious: Woman, Woman I, Woman III and Two Standing Women.
As for Interchange, it has a bumpy history as well. First, it was sold almost immediately after finishing in 1955 for about $4,000. Then, the owners changed a few times along with its price, which rose every time. Thus, in 2015, the last owner, David Geffen, who bought this artwork in 1990, decided to sell it again. The buyer, Ken Griffin, purchased Interchange for $300 million. In fact, this price was the highest for artwork until the Salvator Mundi was sold in 2017.
$250M – “The Card Players”, Paul Cézanne
Paul Cezanne is one of the artists who created numerous world famous paintings. In fact, some pictures are included in a series, such as The Card Players, which consists of 5 works that were created in the 1890s.
All of them are different: people, places where people play, artwork’s dimensions. The common thing in these paintings is peasants playing the cards.
Moreover, before Cezanne started his works he made some investigation in order to create the most realistic ambience.
One picture from this series is considered to be another most expensive picture of all time. The picture with the same name The Card Players was bought by the royal family of Qatar in 2011. Despite that it was expected to be sold to the family from Florida, USA for $225 million, the amount of money that the royal family of Qatar paid for it was a little bit more – $250 million. However, neither of them (expected and actual) exceeded the highest one.
$210M – “When Will You Marry? (Nafea Faa Ipoipo)”, Paul Gauguin
There was an attempt to claim that the work When Will You Marry?, also known Nafea Faa Ipoipo in Tahitian, made by Paul Gauguin had the same price of 300 million dollars, as it was with Interchange by Willem de Kooning. Unfortunately, the announced price was fictive.
The artist, Paul Gauguin, was inspired by his travels to Tahiti to create a whole series of paintings. That is why an alternative name of this painting is also translated into Tahitian and written on the canvas. As a result, he created numerous pictures where he depicted native women: in traditional dresses, in dresses from the outer world, and even naked.
But the most famous painting became When Will You Marry?. Thus, no wonder why the price for this artwork was raised gradually and nobody had doubts about it.
However, after the deal in 2015 where Sheikha Al-Mayassa bint Hamad Al-Thani purchased the painting, dealer Simon de Pury filed a claim to a court in the UK. Thus, there appeared that the real price ($210 million) was less than it was reported before and has never been the highest price ever for artwork.
$200M – “Number 17A”, Jackson Pollock
Remember you have already read about Interchange made by Willem de Kooning, in fact that picture wasn’t the only one that was bought by Ken Griffin.
That day, 2 pictures went to the same owner. And both of them have something in common: they are created in the same technique – abstractionism.
The 2nd picture was created by Jackson Pollock, an American artist who contributed to the movement of abstract expressionism. The painting itself was created in 1948 and is called Number 17A. In 2015, it was sold for $200 million.
$186M – “No. 6 (Violet, Green and Red)”, Mark Rothko
Mark Rothko is another abstract expressionist who developed this movement among other artists at that time. The name of his painting, created in 1951, No. 6 (Violet, Green and Red) speaks for itself, as it consists only of 3 main colors: violet, green and red. However, nothing prevented it from becoming one of the most expensive paintings ever along with being in the middle of a scandalous deal.
Russian businessman Dmitry Rybolovlev is an art collector, but it occurred, he wasn’t as experienced as he was in his business in order to recognize a setup. Thus, in 2014, No. 6 (Violet, Green and Red) became one of the most expensive artworks ever, thanks to the dealer Bouvier.
Yves Bouvier made Dmitry believe that he was just a dealer between Dmitry and the owners Christian and Cherise Moueix, who own Château Pétrus wine estate. However, Bouvier bought this painting by himself for almost half the price then sold it to Rybolovlev – for $186 million. Later this case was called Bouvier Affairs and became one of the series that were repeatedly done by the Swills dealer Yves Bouvier.
$183.8M – “Wasserschlangen II”, Gustav Klimt
Gustav Klimt put lots of his efforts into producing his Wasserschlangen II, also known Water Serpents II. But modern dealers such as Yves Bouvier made his work one of the most discussed and expensive works ever.
The history of this painting resembles the history of the previous artwork, since it was the property of Dmitry Rybolovlev who purchased it in 2012. Rybolovlev paid a commission fee of $3.7 million to Bouvier and Sotheby’s in addition to the whole price of the painting, $183.8 million, in 2012. However, the previous private owners received only $112 million.
$180M – “Pendant portraits of Maerten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit”, Rembrandt
Unlike the previous works, this sample consists of two paintings simultaneously. And, luckily, they can’t be divided since they are portraits of a to-be married couple that were created in 1634 by Rembrandt.
Originally, both paintings were the property of the Rothschild family. But, in 2015, the Louvre Museum and Rijksmuseum became co-owners after they paid a half of the total price for these paintings, $180 million.
Rembrandt’s works have never been sold for a higher price than this one, thus Pendant portraits of Maerten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit appeared in the list of the most expensive artworks ever and the most expensive Rembrandt works.
$179.4M – “Les Femmes d’Alger (Version O)”, Pablo Picasso
Les Femmes d’Alger (Version O) is the latest work in the series of paintings Les Femmes d’Alger created by Pablo Picasso. The whole series was created under the inspiration of Eugène Delacroix’s works with romantic tones, but in the individual manner.
The final version of Picasso’s work was for sale twice: first in 1997 for $31.9 million, and the second in 2015. The estimated price by Sotheby’s (where the deal was held) for the second deal was around $140 million, but it was sold for $179.4 million to former Qatari prime minister, Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani.
$170.4M – “Nu Couché”, Amedeo Modigliani
No wonder, but people have been enjoying the human body, especially a woman’s naked body, for a really long time.
Thus, Amedeo Modigliani’s masterpiece, created in the beginning of the 20th century, around 1917-1918, appeared among the most expensive artworks ever.
In fact, even pre-selling predictions showed that the picture was in focus and would be sold for quite a high price. Thus, in 2015, the painting was bought by a billionaire from China, Liu Yiqian, at Christie’s auction for $170.4M from a private person.
$165M – “Masterpiece”, Roy Lichtenstein
The next work, which was sold for a little bit less price than the predecessor ($165 million), is a piece of modern art created by Roy Lichtenstein.
The contemporary genre pop-art is quite unusual for those who usually admire classic artworks, but maybe because of this, Lichtenstein’s Masterpiece became a desired picture and as a result was sold by Agnes Gund to Steven A. Cohen in January 2017. This helped Agnes to raise money in order to start criminal justice reform.
$157.2M – “Nu Couché (sur le côté gauche)”, Amedeo Modigliani
Nu Couché by Amedeo Modigliani is considered to be the unique painting.
Yes, you haven’t skipped the paragraph. Indeed, this painting has bet the record price twice. And the second time was at a Manhattan auction in May 2018.
It was bought by an unknown person on the phone that was taken by Sotheby’s co-head of Impressionist and Modern art worldwide – Simon Shaw.
$155M – “Le Rêve”, Pablo Picasso
Le Rêve is another work by world-famous artist Pablo Picasso. Along with his other works, all of them have caught quite a lot of attention. Especially when it was supposed to be sold for a higher price, but when then owner Wynn shared his expectations to sell it for $139 million, he accidentally tore the canvas while showing it to his friends in 2006.
Because of this, the painting had to be repaired and the restoration cost around $90 thousand. For sure, after this, the deal was crabbed and the estimated price dropped down to $85 million. However, in 2013, Steven A. Cohen privately bought this painting from the previous owner for $155 million and the artwork became the most expensive until 2015, when Interchange was sold for $300 million.
$150M – “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II”, Gustav Klimt
Gustav Klimt was quite popular at the time when he lived, thus a wealthy Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer always supported Klimt’s works and sponsored his works. As a result of this partnership, Klimt depicted his partner’s wife, Adele, who was only one woman who was depicted twice by the outstanding painter. That is why there are 2 versions of this painting: Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I and Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II. Unfortunately, like the majority of artworks in Europe created before World War II, this painting was taken by Nazis. After the war, the paintings were exhibited in a museum in Austria, and only in 2006 the court decided to return both version of Adele’s painting and three more of Klimt’s works to Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer’s niece.
Later that year, the formal owner sold the second version of Adele’s portrait to Oprah Winfrey for $88 million at Christie’s auction. However, Oprah was not the owner for a long time and in summer 2016, the portrait was sold to an unknown Chinese client. This time, the price was $150 million.
$144M – “Twelve Landscape Screens”, Qi Baishi
European and American artists are not the only world-famous and expensive artists. Thus, Chinese artist Qi Baishi’s work created in 1925 is a compound painting that consists of 12 pieces. All of them are long and thin: 70.8 by 18.5 inches, and the content is scenery of blooming trees, mountains, and villages. As a result, they received the name Twelve Landscape Screens. The work was sold for $144 million (931.5m yuan) at Beijing Poly International Auction, who didn’t divulge the name of the owner, in December 2017. However, the painting became the first and the most expensive artwork that has ever been created by Chinese painters.
$142.4M – “Three Studies of Lucian Freud”, Francis Bacon
It’s quite often that the painter depicts his muses supporting or simply surrounding people. But it’s quite rare when the picture becomes one of the most expensive, as happened with Francis Bacon’s abstract work Three Studies of Lucian Freud. Obviously, the depicted person is Lucian Freud and he was Bacon’s friend. In November 2013, the artwork was sold at Christie’s auction. The buyer was Elaine Wynn, who spent $142.4 million.
$140M – “Number 5, 1948”, Jackson Pollock
One of Pollock’s works has already been reviewed in this art list of the most expensive artworks. However, Pollock has another expensive work, and its name is Number 5. It was created in 1948, and it was performed in abstract technique. The main color of this abstract picture is brown and additional colors are white, grey, and yellow that are sprinkled over the canvas.
It is known that in 2006, the painting was sold for $140 million to David Martinez. However, from that time there is no information of where the painting is.
$137.5 – “Woman III”, Willem de Kooning
Woman III is a painting that is only one from a series of paintings about women. It was created from 1951 through 1953, and its dimensions are 68 by 48.5 inches. The genre of this work is abstract expressionism, which made it quite contradictory when revolution in Tehran sparkled in 1979. This made the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art hide this artwork due to government restrictions about art.
Then, in 1994, the picture was sold to David Geffen, who later privately resold it to Steven A. Cohen for $137.5 million in 2006.
$135M – “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I”, Gustav Klimt
We are already familiar with the history of creating portraits of Adele Bloch-Bauer. As you can see, the first version of portrait is also among the most expensive artworks ever. However, as for Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, which was finished in 1907, it is known that an informal name of this picture is Lady in Gold.
Maybe people predicted its fate, since the price shows that it seems to be made of gold.
Indeed, the price that Ronald Lauder, co-founder of art gallery Neue Galerie in New York, purchased privately from the Bloch-Bauer family for this picture in 2006 was quite high in order to become the most expensive artwork, it was $135 million.
$119.9M – “The Scream”, Edvard Munch
The Scream created by Edvard Munch is one of the most famous and expensive artworks. The painting itself shows a screaming person with a shocked face that symbolizes his anxiety. Edvard Munch was inspired by a unique sunrise that suddenly turned the blue sky into a gradient with blue and bloody red. It explains the real name of this artwork The Scream of Nature that originally was given in 1893.
Because of this popularity, thieves tried to steal this painting twice: in 1994 and in 2004. The last time was unsuccessful for the painting since it was damaged. Luckily it was less than it was expected.
And these accidents haven’t prevented this painting from hitting the price record, thus in May 2012 it was bought by an American Businessman, Leon Black, at Sotheby’s for $119.9 million.
$118M – “Reclining Nude With Blue Cushion”, Amedeo Modigliani
Reclining Nude With Blue Cushion is another artwork created by Amedeo Modigliani. And as the previous one, the picture is of a naked woman, and was created from 1916-1919. The dimensions of this work are 23 by 36.22 inches. The painting was sold to Dmitry Rybolovlev in 2012 for 118 million dollars. The art dealer was Yves Bouvier.
$115M – “Young Girl with a Flower Basket”, Pablo Picasso
Despite that everyone is familiar with Picasso’s art, and the artworks distinguish a lot from the majority of artists, his early works don’t resemble the later works at all.
Thus, Young Girl with a Flower Basket was created during the Rose period when the artist lived in Montmartre. The dimensions of this picture are 60.6 by 23.6 inches.
In 1968, the picture was bought by Rockefeller’s family, and in 2017 was sold at Christie’s auction for $115 million. Unfortunately, the name of the owner is unknown.
$110.7M – “Meules”, Claude Monet
Meules is a piece of impressionism and it became the first picture performed in impressionism that was sold for an enormous price.
Actually, Meules was auctioned and there were 6 potential buyers who tried to bid higher for 8 minutes after the Sotheby’s auction started on May 14, 2019. Luckily the painting was sold for $110.7 million, but, unfortunately the name of the lucky owner is not identified.
$110.5M – “Untitled”, Jean-Michel Basquiat
Classics are not the only art that is highly valued. In fact, contemporary art is also valuable, however, nobody expected that in 2017, the artwork of a young American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat would be sold at auction for an enormous sum of money, $110.5 million, to Yusaku Maezawa.
The picture depicts a black skull full of nightmare eyes. It is based on a blue graffiti background.
$110M – “Flag”, Jasper Johns
Jasper Johns made a breakthrough hit with Flag. The reason is that the majority of artists at that time worked in abstract expressionism, but he decided to create something that united people, especially after World War II. And it turned out that the proper art was an American flag. The lucky owner of Flag is Steve A. Cohen, who paid $110 million at Christie’s auction in May 2010.
$106.5M – “Nude, Green Leaves and Bust”, Pablo Picasso
Nude, Green Leaves and Bust is another of Picasso’s works that made everyone stare at and examine it.
The painting was created in 1932, and the main color is lilac and blue spread over the 59 by 51.18 inch canvas. The muse and person whom the picture was drawn from was Picasso’s mistress, Marie-Thérèse Walter.
The picture was auctioned at Christie’s in May 2010 and was sold for $106.5 million. The final bid was given via telephone to an unknown person.
$105.7M – “Anna’s Light”, Barnett Newman
Large works are also popular among collectors, thus Anna’s Light created by Barnett Newman became another expensive artwork. Its dimensions are enormous: 107.87 by 240 inches is quite enough in order to perceive cadmium red and a white stripe as the main colors that surround you, that bring unrepeatable feelings. Thus might be the major reason why an anonymous buyer decided to have it in October 2013 for $105.7 – not to share it with someone else.
$105M – “Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster)”, Andy Warhol
Both “What is this?” and “Oh My God” may appear in your head once you see Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster) by Andy Warhol.
In fact, the picture depicts the car crash with the human bodies inside the car, particularly what happened to them after the accident.
This is a terrifying and mesmerizing picture simultaneously. In November 2013, it was sold at Sotheby’s for 105 million dollars to an unknown person.
$104.2 – “Boy with a Pipe (Garçon à la pipe)”, Pablo Picasso
Boy with a Pipe is another painting created during Picasso’s early Rose period. This is an illustration of a Parisian boy sitting with a pipe. Unlike the majority of Picasso’s works, Boy with a Pipe is not depicted in abstractionism.
This oil painting has also been sold for an enormous amount of money at Sotheby’s auction in 2004, particularly for $104.2 million, and became one of the most expensive artworks ever. Unfortunately, Sotheby’s didn’t say the name of the owner.
$100M – “La Montagne Sainte-Victoire vue du bosquet du Château Noir”, Paul Cézanne
La Montagne Sainte-Victoire was an object of numerous Cezanne pictures. However, the most famous picture is La Montagne Sainte-Victoire vue du bosquet du Château Noir created in 1904, which became one of the most expensive artworks ever.
It was sold privately to an unknown person from Qatar for 100 million dollars in 2013. Its dimensions are 25.6 by 31.5 inches.
Other Sales Records of Famous Artworks
It’s not necessary that less famous and less pricey pictures created by other artists are less interesting. In fact, lots of masterpieces are undeservedly in the reflected glory of the top rated artists. Thus, you are highly recommended to learn more artists and their paintings that are not less interesting, though their prices are under $100 million.
Barnett Newman’s Blue Painting Sold for More Than $40 Million
Once you see the painting by Barnett Newman, Onement VI, you may be confused and think that it’s a table for Ping-Pong hanging on the wall. In fact, these thoughts are achieved by the chosen colors and the figures’ layout.
Previously, the picture was owned by Paul Allen who is a co-owner of Microsoft, and he sold it at Sotheby’s auction for $43.8 million to an unknown bidder by phone in 2013.
Painting by Frida Kahlo Fetches $8 Million in New York
Two Nudes in the Forest (The Earth Itself), created by female artist Frida Kahlo in 1939, is not the only one picture that exceeded the million limit.
The estimated price by Christie’s for it was 8-12 million and the actual sum of money that was paid by an unknown person in 2016 was at the lower limit – 8 million dollars. However, the Two Nudes in the Forest (The Earth Itself) became the most expensive of Kahlo’s works ever sold.
Salvador Dali’s Artwork for $21.5M at Sotheby’s Auction
Salvador Dali is a famous artist-surrealist. And he has numerous pictures that deserve places in the light of fame. However, his work Portrait De Paul Eluard hit a world record.
It was sold at Sotheby’s auction to an anonymous bidder for 21.5 million dollars in 2011, and became the most expensive surrealism artwork.
Record Price of a Painting by Juan Luna Is Almost $1 Million
Juan Luna is the first Philippine artist who became famous and the first expensive artist. His brushwork ¿A Do…Va la Nave? was infamous and relatives even had doubts whether to auction this picture. But, in 2015, nobody expected that the price at Salcedo Auctions would exceed P46 million which is equal to almost $1 million, which was paid by a private collector.
Blue Dog Painting by George Rodrigue Brought Over $170,000
Originally the Blue Dog by George Rodrigue was created before the Carmel California festival started. Later, in 1996, Rodrigue’s Carmel gallery sold the painting for $35,000. Thus, in 2009, the estimated price for this artwork was within 30 and 40 thousand dollars. Nobody has expected that the price would rise up at Sotheby’s auction to $170,500. Unfortunately, the name of the owner of Blue Dog is also unknown.
$53.9M Income from the Sale of Vincent van Gogh’s “Irises”
The painting Irises made by Van Gogh in 1889 brought a stunning success in 1987 to its owner.
The price for this picture at Sotheby’s auction rose up to $53.9 million, which has never happened before. In other words, this price was the highest for artwork at that time. However, there is no information about who bought it, except that the bid was taken via phone from a European agent.
Joan Miro’s Painting Reached Record Sale at Auction
Joan Miro would have been one of the richest people if he had been a living artist right now. Thanks to his painting Etoile Bleue that was auctioned at Sotheby’s in 2012 and sold for $36.9 million. His painting hit the world record as the most expensive painting made by a Spanish artist. According to Sotheby’s, the owner is one of the recent owners who took part is sale in Paris in 2007.
George Stubbs’ Horse Painting Sold for $36 Million
George Stubbs is famous for his realistic illustration of horses, with precise lines and strokes that show the anatomy of this animal. However, you should remember that this painting was created a few centuries ago – in 1765. As a result, Stubbs’ Horse became the most expensive and the most detailed old artwork at Christie’s auction in 2011, which was sold for almost 36 million dollars to an unknown person.
Highest-Priced Latin American Artwork by Diego Rivera
There is also a record of the highest priced Latin American oil artwork. It is called The Rivals created by Diego Rivera. The price for this artwork exceeds $9 million at Christie’s auction in 2018, and knowing that Rivera is Frida Kahlo’s husband and her painting was sold for $8 million, it’s quite obvious and quite stupid situation that his work is more expensive than hers. The name of an owner is unidentified.
Can You Buy Original Paintings by Bob Ross?
Bob Ross has created more than 30 thousand artworks since he was 18 years old. Unfortunately, he died in 1995 and all his works went to charity. Moreover, he worked for free but earned some money from selling some video tutorial of how to draw and selling some stationery. However, if you are a fan of his art and want to shop his works, then probably you may find some souvenirs made by him with acrylic paint.
Most Expensive Piece of Art Ever Painted by a Woman
In 2015, there was represented the most expensive work made by a woman at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. The painting is called Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1. made by Georgia O’Keeffe in 1932. Its dimensions are 48 by 40 inches. The picture was bought by Mrs. Walton for $44.4 million.
Top Expensive Pieces of Art on Amazon
Now, as it was promised before, you are invited to see what the expensive paintings are available on Amazon. All of them are different and created in various techniques; the majority of them are made with oil and watercolor. Their date of creation may prompt you as to why they are so expensive. Probably you will spot something special and will want to have it in your art gallery.
Unknown (1977) | Xi You Ji Shi Yi | Haitian Chenfeng | Shu Shu Jie Quse | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Artist | William Tillyer | Wenzheng Dong | Wenzheng Dong | Wenzheng Dong |
Why Are Paintings So Expensive?
What is the reason of such a high price? You may ask yourself when you see the world records of prices for artwork. Here are some of the hints and ideas of why the paintings are expensive.
Name of artist. Name of artist is the most valuable thing that influences artwork’s prices. The more famous artist, the more expensive his works.
Quality and details. Paradoxically, but this aspect doesn’t apply to an artist with a world-famous name. In fact, this works only with non-famous artists, as they have to work hard in order to be spotted and adored.
Time. It’s very simple with time – the older painting, the higher value it has.
Genre. Genre is a significant price influencer, since, nowadays, people prefer to have something unusual thus, they buy abstract, artworks of impressionism, surrealism, and expressionism. As a result, they are more pricey than the others artworks.
How to Spot an Expensive Painting?
There are some hints that will help you to identify more expensive artworks and not to make a mistake with a cheap one.
Well-known artists. For sure the well-known artists such as van Gogh or Rembrandt won’t be available in stores. However, some less-known artists and their works can be also valuable. Thus, you should investigate your local artists and check their works on the Internet. Can’t find anything. If you can’t find any information about the painting you are searching about, then, most likely it’s not popular at all. Limited edition. Remember, when you see “Limited edition” or there is a sign of the artist on it, most likely this sample is valuable. Size matters. When choosing pictures, it’s better to take bigger sizes than smaller ones. Frame matters, too. The more solid and well built the wooden frame is, the more valuable the picture will be. Look at the back. Painting with bright white color at the back is most likely a reproduction, consequently, the darker back is in older paintings – the real ones. Every painting has a signature. Check if there is an artist’s signature, if it doesn’t look like the real one then most likely it’s fake. Don’t take printed pictures. A printed picture is easy to identify by checking the canvas through a magnifying glass. If there are dots from the printer, skip this picture. Paint is textured. Real paint always has a texture, it can’t be flat and pressed over the whole surface.Conclusion
Art is one of the best human inventions and this is a wonderful heritage for future generations that show how the previous ones lived. Moreover, they serve as a guide to emotions and feelings that are beyond words and this is the only way to reproduce them. Maybe this is another reason why the pictures are quite expensive.
Hopefully, there is enough information of the most expensive artworks, so now you can share your knowledge with your friends. Or if your target is to learn how to identify expensive pieces of art, then the guide given above will definitely help you. Stay with WoWPencils to know everything about the world of art.
References
- The World’s Most Expensive Painting Sold at Auction Is Missing… – https://www.vanityfair.com/
- Interchange (de Kooning) – https://en.wikipedia.org/
- The Card Players – https://en.wikipedia.org/
- Number 17A – https://en.wikipedia.org/
- Singapore Unfreezes Assets of Sued Art Dealer Yves Bouvier – http://www.artfixdaily.com/
- The Tangled History of Klimt’s $170M Water Serpents – https://www.ft.com/
- Pendant Portraits of Maerten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit – https://en.wikipedia.org/
- Picasso and Giacometti Artworks Top $120 Million… – https://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/
- “Obscene” Modigliani Painting Fetches $157M at Auction – https://nypost.com/
- EXCLUSIVE: SAC’s Cohen Buys $155M Picasso After Settling Trading Probe – https://pagesix.com/
- The Gustav Klimt Painting Oprah Reportedly Sold for $150M… – https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/
- Paintings by Chinese Artist Qi Baishi Sell for Record £105M – https://www.theguardian.com/
- At $142.4 Million, Triptych Is the Most Expensive Artwork… – https://www.nytimes.com/
- A Pollock Is Sold, Possibly for a Record Price – https://www.nytimes.com/
- Woman III by Willem de Kooning – https://artpaintingartist.org/
- Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I – https://en.wikipedia.org/
- “The Scream” Just Sold for A Record-Breaking $119 Million – https://www.businessinsider.com/
- Amedeo Modigliani – Reclining Nude with Blue Cushion 1917 – https://artscash.com/
- Picasso’s “Young Girl” Painting Sells for Insane $115 Million – https://www.highsnobiety.com/
- Is This Basquiat Worth $110M? Yes… – https://www.theguardian.com/
- How Steve Cohen Amassed a $1 Billion Art Collection – https://fortune.com/
- Nude, Green Leaves and Bust – https://en.wikipedia.org/
- Barnett Newman – Anna’s Light 1968 – https://artscash.com/
- Andy Warhol Auction Record Shattered – https://www.bbc.com/
- Picasso’s “Boy with a Pipe” Sells for $104 Million – https://www.today.com/
- Secret $100 Million Cézanne Sale in Detroit – https://news.artnet.com/
- $43.8 Million for This?! – https://nypost.com/
- Frida Kahlo Painting Sells for Record Price – https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/
- Dali Painting Sells for Record $21.5M – https://www.abc.net.au/
- Rare Juan Luna Painting Fetches Record P46.72M at PH Auction – https://www.rappler.com/
- Van Gogh’s “Irises” Sells for $53.9 Million – https://www.nytimes.com/
- Stubbs Horse Painting Fetches $36 mln in London – https://www.reuters.com/
- Miro Painting Sells for Record $37 Million at Auction – https://www.latimes.com/
- Diego Rivera Painting Becomes Highest-Priced Latin American Art – https://edition.cnn.com/
- 5 Things You didn’t Know About Bob Ross – https://www.swintonsart.com/
- World’s Most Expensive Painting by a Woman Goes on Display — in Arkansas – https://observer.com/