The history of art is long and extraordinary, ranging from classic to contemporary. The world knows many of the great masters such as Van Gogh and Picasso. The works of the greats continue to come up for auction every few years and set new records each time.
Guinness World Records lists da Vinci’s Mona Lisa as having the highest ever insurance value for a painting. On permanent display at the Louvre in Paris, the Mona Lisa was assessed at $100 million on 14 December 1962. Taking inflation into account, the 1962 value would be 10 times that. Salvator Mundi, a painting by Italian Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci dated to c. 1500, was sold at auction for $450.3 million on 15 November 2017 by Christie’s in New York to Prince Badr bin Abdullah, setting a new record for most expensive paintings ever sold at public auction.
Today 215mag brings the top 5 most expensive paintings in the world.
1. SALVATOR MUNDI, ATTRIBUTED TO LEONARDO DA VINCI – $450,300,000
Salvator Mundi or Saviour of the World was supposedly painted by Leonardo da Vinci (many critics believe otherwise). The painting presents Jesus Christ dressed in Renaissance garbs and bestowing benediction, his right hand 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 – Christ is shown to be the savior of the world and the master of the cosmos. Leonardo was a Roman Catholic but still deviates from the traditional images of the brass/golden globes with a crucifix to the crystal sphere. Some claim that it was a conscious attempt on his part to tie the physical and spiritual worlds together.
Pictures Showing How Incredible Life Cycles Can BeArt enthusiasts claim that there are 20 different variants of the artwork; the original painting is lost. One such copy was recently restored and rediscovered to be the original work of da Vinci by many leading scholars. The argument that they present it that the golden hair ringlets, the knot-work crossing store, and the two fingers raised to bless mankind are all classic da Vinci and not found in the other copies of Salvator Mundi. Salvator Mundi has a rags-to-riches story that’s quite fascinating.
2. INTERCHANGE, WILLEM DE KOONING – $300,000,000
Willem de Kooning’s famed 1955 piece was inspired by his surroundings whilst living in NYC and commanded the highest price ever paid in a private sale.
Hedge fund billionaire Kenneth C Griffin bought it alongside his Jackson Pollock Number 17A purchase, in a $500 million deal.
3. THE CARD PLAYERS, PAUL CEZANNE – $250,000,000
This painting held the record for the most expensive one in the world before the sale of When Will You Marry in 2015. The Card Players had been bought by the Qatari royal family from the Greek shipping magnate George Embiricos for a whopping USD 274 million in the year 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. It makes up one of 5 pieces painted by Cezanne as part of his post-impressionist series completed between the early and the mid-1890s.
This iconic image features two stony-faced men sitting at small wooden table playing cards. The painting style and the use of pastels are classic Cezanne with the subtle expressions on the faces beautifully conveying two players completely immersed in the game. A bottle of wine placed on the table adds to the impressive, yet subtle detailing.
4. NAFEA FAA IPOIPO (WHEN WILL YOU MARRY?), PAUL GAUGUIN – $210,000,000
French post-impressionist Paul Gauguin painted this piece when he was on his first trip to Tahiti.
It was one of many he painted of the native woman on the island, and its title translates to “When Will You Marry?”
The artwork has also previously been called the most expensive painting in the world, selling for $210 million in 2015 after two years of negotiations.
5. NO. 17A, 1948, JACKSON POLLOCK – $200,000,000
The title of the painting Number 17A is in stark contrast with its content. While the name is bland, the patterns depicted in the painting are anything but ordinary. Critics had very mixed reactions to the painting; it was met with great public scrutiny and hence not valued much in the art world. It was only much later in 2016 when the piece was purchased by billionaire art collector Kenneth C. Griffin for approx. $200 million that Number 17A was revived as the fourth most expensive paintings ever sold in history.
“Number 17A” isn’t on public display at the moment, however, there are many exceptional Pollock collections on display in museums around the world, including the New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MOMA).
Read LaterAdd to FavouritesAdd to Collection