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.
#21 Spring
Artist: Édouard Manet | Year (completed): 1881 | Price (original): $65.1 million
Monet’s close, long-time friend Antonin Proust was the one who suggested the idea for the painting. Because he was also the one who commissioned it, he became the first owner of Le Printemps. In 2014, the last (known) time the artwork was placed for sale, the J. Paul Getty Museum spent over $65 million to acquire it.
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6points
#22 The Card Players
Artist: Paul Cézanne | Year (completed): 1893 | Price: $250 million
In 2011, the royal family of Qatar paid $250 million for this particular artwork, one of five paintings from Cézanne's series depicting labor workers playing cards. The other four are currently on display at different museums across the globe.
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5points
#23 La Montagne Sainte-Victoire
Artist: Paul Cezanne | Year (completed): 1890 | Price (original): $137.7 million
Montagne Sainte-Victoire, a mountain in southern France overlooking Aix-en-Provence, became the subject of several of Cézanne's paintings. This particular one by Paul Cézanne, part of Paul G. Allen's collection, sold for $137.79 million at Christie’s New York in 2022.
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5points
#24 La Montagne Sainte-Victoire Vue Du Bosquet Du Château Noir
Artist: Paul Cézanne | Year (completed): 1904 | Price (original): $100 million
The subject of the artwork is the already familiar Montagne Sainte-Victoire. One of the most famous landscape paintings was sold to the State of Qatar for $100 million in a private sale in 2014 by the Edsel and Eleanor Ford House.
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5points
#25 Verger Avec Cyprès (Orchard With Cypresses)
Artist: Vincent van Gogh | Year (completed): 1888 | Price (original): $117.1 million
The piece, which was part of the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen's collection, was sold at auction on 10 November 2022 at Christie's New York for $117.2 million. The buyer of the artwork remains unknown.
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5points
#26 Portrait Of Alfonso D'avalos, Marquis Of Vasto, In Armor With A Page
Artist: Titian | Year (completed): 1533 | Price (original): $70 million
French insurance company AXA was the previous owner of Titian's painting before the Getty Museum, its current owner, acquired it for $70 million. Apparently, the Louvre badly wanted the painting and had the option to purchase it from AXA for a reasonable price. However, for reasons unknown, the Louvre decided not to take up the offer.
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5points
#27 Chop Suey
Artist: Edward Hopper | Year (completed): 1929 | Price (original): $91.9 million
The artwork belonged to Barney A. Ebsworth, who had promised to donate it to the Seattle Art Museum. However, upon his demise, the possession was transferred to his estate. The artwork set a new record for the artist when it sold for $92 million in November 2018 at Christie's New York.
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5points
#28 Otahi
Artist: Paul Gauguin | Year (completed): 1893 | Price: $120 million
The artwork, which features a Tahitian woman, was involved in a lawsuit between Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev, Swiss art dealer Yves Bouvier, and the auction house Sotheby's. Rybolovlev accused Bouvier and Sotheby's of inflating the price of the painting. Otahi, which Rybolovlev allegedly paid $120 million for, was only resold for $50 million.
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4points
#29 Nafea Faa Ipoipo? (When Will You Marry?)
Artist: Paul Gauguin | Year (completed): 1892 | Price (original): $210 million
Paul Gaugin painted Nafea Faa Ipoipo?, which translates to "When Will You Marry?," after his first visit to Tahiti in 1891. According to the initial reports, Swiss businessman Rudolf Staechelin sold the Gaugin work to a Qatari client for $300 million. However, a 2017 lawsuit later revealed that the painting actually fetched $210 million.
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4points
#30 Maternitè II (Maternity II)
Artist: Paul Gauguin | Year (completed): 1899 | Price (original): $105.7 million
Maternitè II was another painting from Paul Allen's collection, sold at auction on 10 November 2022 for a staggering $105.7 million. The buyer of the painting remains anonymous.
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4points
#31 Le Bassin Aux Nymphéas
Artist: Claude Monet | Year (completed): 1919 | Price (original): $80.5 million
A famous depiction of Monet's late-period water lilies, Le Bassin aux nymphéas, is richly colored in deep blues and greens and is very abstract. In 2008, Christie's London sold it for £40.9 million to an unidentified seller.
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4points
#32 Laboureur Dans Un Champ (Field With Plowing Farmers)
Artist: Vincent van Gogh | Year (completed): 1889 | Price (original): $81.3 million
Painted during his stay at a mental asylum, Laboreur dans un champ may be viewed as a window into Van Gogh's inner world. The landscape painting, depicting an artist determined to heal himself through art, was sold for $81.3 million in 2017 to an unidentified buyer at Christie's New York.
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4points
#33 The Gross Clinic
Artist: Thomas Eakins | Year (completed): 1875 | Price (original): $68 million
The Gross Clinic, praised for its staunch realism, plays a significant role in documenting the history of medicine. In 2006, Thomas Jefferson University Board wanted to sell the artwork to the gallery in Washington, but initiatives to keep the painting in Philadelphia got underway. For the artwork to remain home, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the Philadelphia Museum of Art were compelled to sell some of their paintings to cover the $68 million purchase price.
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4points
#34 Ten Views Of Lingbi Rock
Artist: Wu Bin | Year (completed): 1610 | Price (original): $77 million
Wu Bin's Ten Views of Lingbi Rock shows ten different angles of a single stone and is the most remarkable painting of rock ever created in China. In December 1989, this handscroll was the first Chinese painting to sell for one million dollars. Over three decades later, in 2020, the artwork was sold at Poly Auctions in Beijing for about $76.6 million and sent back to China.
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4points
#35 Eagle Standing On Pine Tree
Artist: Qi Baishi | Year (completed): 1946 | Price (original): $65.5 million
The painting, intended as a 60th birthday gift to China's former leader, Chiang Kai-shek, was sold for 425.5 million yuan ($65.5 million) in the auction house China Guardian in 2011. The new owner became not a person but a group—a China-based advertising company, Hunan TV & Broadcast Intermediary Co.
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4points
#36 Zhichuan Resettlement
Artist: Wang Meng | Year (completed): 1350 | Price (original): $62.1 million
A wash painting of mountains and waters by a Yuan Dynasty painter depicts a famous Taoist medical scientist, Ge Hong, moving his home to the Luofu Mountain to practice alchemy. In 2011, the painting was sold to an anonymous buyer for $62.1 million.
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4points
#37 Massacre Of The Innocents
Artist: Peter Paul Rubens | Year (completed): 1611 | Price (original): $76.7 million
Canadian billionaire Kenneth Thompson acquired Massacre Of The Innocents from an Austrian family for £49.5 million ($76.7 million) at Sotheby's London in 2002. However, Thompson then donated the artwork to the Art Gallery of Ontario.
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3points
#38 Les Noces De Pierrette (The Marriage Of Pierrette)
Artist: Pablo Picasso | Year (completed): 1905 | Price (original): $51.67 million
While chronologically belonging to Picasso's Rose Period, it’s artistically characteristic of the Blue Period, when the artist faced poverty and depression after his friend took their own life. The last known buyer of the artwork was a Japanese businessman Tomonori Tsurumaki who paid the $51.67 million price for it when he purchased it from Fredrik Roos.
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3points
#39 Te Fare
Artist: Paul Gauguin | Year (completed): 1892 | Price (original): $85 million
The artwork was bought by Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev in a private sale in 2008. It cost the billionaire €54 million ($85 million). Later, in 2017, he sold it for $25 million at auction, incurring a loss of more than $60 million.
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3points
#40 Rideau, Cruchon Et Compotier (Curtain, Jug And Fruit Bowl)
Artist: Paul Cézanne | Year (completed): 1894 | Price (original): $60.5 million
In 1999, this still life composition, in which Cézanne explores the relationship between form, balance, and symmetry in objects, fetched $60.5 million at Sotheby's New York. The artwork is the most expensive still life painting ever sold.
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3points
