It's tempting to assume that the most expensive painting in the world is Da Vinci's masterpiece, the Mona Lisa. Although you would be correct in guessing the artist, that would not be entirely true. Currently, the highest price paid for a painting is $450.3 million, paid for another work of his, Salvator Mundi.
Although Mona Lisa's theoretical value could be way higher (some say more than a billion dollars!), it's not for sale. And it will not be anytime soon. Hence, Italian La Gioconda, just like some of the other most famous paintings you would expect to cost an arm and leg, can't be included in the list of most expensive paintings in the world. They might be one day, but for now, we can only look at the most expensive art pieces purchased at auctions or private sales. However, before we hop into the list of the most expensive paintings ever sold, we want to emphasize a few things.
This list is far from complete. That is because private transactions are not always reported to the media; even if they are, some sensitive details (the price, buyer, or seller) may not be disclosed. Besides, the most expensive paintings we used for our listing are all in the public domain. Hence, the most expensive art pieces with strict copyright laws had to be excluded from our list.
#1 Irises
Artist: Vincent van Gogh | Year (completed): 1889 | Price (original): $53.9 million
The brilliant Irises by Vincent van Gogh, which he painted in 1889 during his first week in the asylum at St. Remy, was sold at Sotheby's New York in 1987 for $53.9 million.
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21points
#2 Portrait Of Adele Bloch-Bauer I
Artist: Gustav Klimt | Year (completed): 1907 | Price (original): $135 million
The painting was unlawfully taken from its Jewish owners by Nazis in 1941 and, for a while, belonged to the Galerie Belvedere in Vienna, Austria. This was until one of the inheritors of the artwork made a claim against the gallery for the return of stolen work. In 2006, after a seven-year legal battle, the legatee won the lawsuit, and the painting was returned to its rightful owners. However, that same year it was sold for $135 million to the businessman and art collector Ronald Lauder.
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18points
#3 A Wheatfield With Cypresses
Artist: Vincent van Gogh | Year (completed): 1889 | Price (original): $57 million
The largest piece from the series of three was owned by several individuals throughout the years. Dieter Bührle was the last known buyer; he paid $57 million for the artwork in 1993 and subsequently donated it to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
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15points
#4 Wasserschlangen II (Water Serpents II)
Artist: Gustav Klimt | Year (completed): 1907 | Price (original): $170 million
The highly embellished painting was stolen during World War II but resurfaced in the public light when Sotheby's auctioned it off in 2015. Following a few ownership changes, in 2017, the artwork was sold for $170 million to an anonymous buyer, rumored to be either an Asian buyer or a Qatari princess.
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13points
#5 Meules
Artist: Claude Monet | Year (completed): 1890 | Price (original): $110.7 million
The master of impressionism loved serial works. The most well-known of his series is the one with haystacks, or meules in French. One of the paintings from the series was sold at Sotheby’s New York for $110.7 million in 2019 and is now held in private hands.
12points
#6 Pendant Portraits Of Maerten Soolmans And Oopjen Coppit
Artist: Rembrandt | Year (completed): 1634 | Price: $180 million
Formerly owned by the Rothschild family, the two wedding portraits were sold to the Louvre and the Rijksmuseum in 2016 after both museums contributed half the purchase price of €160 million. The pair have remained together since their creation in the 17th century because the two European museums take turns exhibiting the portraits.
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11points
#7 Salvator Mundi
Artist: Leonardo da Vinci | Year (completed): 1500 | Price (original): $450.3 million
Salvator Mundi, which translates to "Savior of the World," is the most expensive painting in history and arguably the most controversial since many scholars question whether Leonardo da Vinci really created the entire piece. In 2017, a bidder allegedly acting on behalf of Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman purchased the painting from Christie's for $450.3 million.
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11points
#8 Portrait De L’artiste Sans Barbe (Self-Portrait Without Beard)
Artist: Vincent van Gogh | Year (completed): 1889 | Price (original): $71.5 million
Van Gogh painted several self-portraits, but this was his final one. The painting was sold to a private collector in New York in 1998 for $71 million. Due to inflation, its current value is believed to be over $103 million.
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9points
#9 Portrait Of Adele Bloch-Bauer II
Artist: Gustav Klimt | Year (completed): 1912 | Price: $150 million
Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II was sold by Christie's auction house in November 2006 for about $88 million to Oprah Winfrey. However, in the summer of 2016, Oprah Winfrey sold it for $150 million to an unidentified Chinese buyer.
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9points
#10 Birch Forest
Artist: Gustav Klimt | Year (completed): 1903 | Price (original): $104.5 million
Rather than focusing on the enigmatic, dark nature of the woods, for this piece, Klimt chose an ostensible autumnal setting, when the colors of the leaves naturally gravitate towards the golden tones he enjoyed. Birch Forest was yet another painting from Paul Allen's collection, sold at Christie's auction. The unnamed buyer paid a total of $104.5 million for it.
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9points
#11 Le Bassin Aux Nymphéas (Water-Lily Pond)
Artist: Claude Monet | Year (completed): 1919 | Price (original): $70.3 million
Le Bassin Aux Nymphéas is yet another painting from Monet’s famous Water Lilies series. In 2021 at Sothesby’s New York, Le Bassin Aux Nymphéas sold for $70.3 million, well over its estimated $40 million. That’s more than four times the $16.8 million price it made at Sotheby’s in 2004.
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9points
#12 Portrait Of Dr. Gachet
Artist: Vincent van Gogh | Year (completed): 1890 | Price: $82.5 million
There are two authenticated versions of the portrait, both created in June 1890 at Auvers, the home of Dr. Paul Gachet, the subject of the painting and the man who cared for Van Gogh in his final months. The first version was sold at auction in New York in 1890 to the Japanese paper magnate Ryoei Saito and fetched a record-breaking $82.5 million.
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8points
#13 Portrait Of Joseph Roulin
Artist: Vincent van Gogh | Year (completed): 1889 | Price (original): $58 million
The postal worker depicted above, Joseph Roulin, and his family were the subjects of more than 20 portraits by the artist. This particular portrait of Van Gogh's close friend was acquired for $58 million from a private collection in Zurich by the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1989.
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8points
#14 The Standard Bearer
Artist: Rembrandt | Year (completed): 1636 | Price (original): $198 million
The Standard Bearer, regarded as one of Rembrandt's most brilliant works, was formerly owned by England's King George IV until it was purchased by the Rothschild family in 1844. In 2022, the artwork was sold to the Netherlands for €175 million (around $198 million) and has since been featured in museum exhibitions nationwide.
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7points
#15 Bal Du Moulin De La Galette
Artist: Pierre-Auguste Renoir | Year (completed): 1876 | Price (original): $78.1 million
For many years, John Hay Whitney owned the smaller version of the painting with the same title. However, it was sold to Ryoei Saito, the Japanese paper magnate, for $78 million in 1990. At the time it was auctioned, it was among the top two most expensive pieces of art ever sold, along with Van Gogh's Portrait of Dr. Gachet, which was also purchased by Saito.
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7points
#16 Garçon À La Pipe (Boy With A Pipe)
Artist: Pablo Picasso | Year (completed): 1905 | Price (original): $104.2 million
The painting, which depicts a local kid who passed at a young age, was sold at Sotheby's New York in 2004 for a staggering $104,168,000. Sotheby's did not disclose the buyer, although the sources believe it was an Italian businessman, Guido Barilla.
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7points
#17 Les Poseuses, Ensemble (Petite Version) (The Three Models)
Artist: Georges Seurat | Year (completed): 1888 | Price: $149.2 million
The third of Seurat's six major works was created in response to critics who thought Seurat's style was subpar because it was cold and lifeless. The artist's response to them was this painting, depicting three different nude poses of the same woman. In 2022, the artwork, which belonged to the late billionaire Paul Allen, was sold at an auction for $149.2 million.
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6points
#18 Vase With Fifteen Sunflowers
Artist: Vincent van Gogh | Year (completed): 1889 | Price (original): $39.7 million
In 1987, Japanese insurance magnate Yasuo Goto bought Van Gogh's Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers at Christie's London for $39.7 million. At the time, it was a record-setting amount paid for a work of art.
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6points
#19 Portrait Of A Young Man Holding A Roundel
Artist: Sandro Botticelli | Year (completed): 1480 | Price (original): $92.2 million
The portrait, thought to have been completed in 1480, is believed to represent the standards of beauty of Renaissance Florentine high society. The painting was purchased by an unnamed Russian-speaking buyer in 2021 at Sotheby's New York for $92.2 million.
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6points
#20 Nymphéas En Fleur
Artist: Claude Monet | Year (completed): 1917 | Price (original): $84.7 million
A painting from Monet's Water Lilies series, which was at the time part of David Rockefeller and his wife's private collection, was sold to a private collector for $81.7 million at Christie's New York in 2018.
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6points