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The world's most expensive paintings
The world's most expensive paintings
POSTED DECEMBER 15, 2021
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and the eyes of the super-rich determine what paintings sell for the highest prices. With that proviso, here are the half-dozen most expensive paintings in the world.
6. "No. 6 (Violet, Green and Red)" – Mark Rothko – $186 million
Coincidentally, number 6 on our list is No. 6 (Violet, Green, and Red) by Mark Rothko. Rothko (1903-1970) was a prominent figure in the New York School of Abstract Expressionists of the mid-twentieth century. He created works in many styles from the figurative to the surrealist before his search for new forms of expression led to his Color Field paintings, which employ shimmering bold blocks of color to convey a sense of spirituality.
Mark Rothko's Color Fields (WITW, Aug 4)
Rothko's huge Color Field paintings are among the most influential of the twentieth century. Painted in 1951, No.6 was bought for $186 million by the Monaco-based Russian oligarch Dmitry Rybolovlev in 2014. It subsequently became part of the ongoing "Bouvier Affair" with a number of the super-rich sued Swiss art dealer Yves Bouvier for overcharging them.
To get a feel for Rothko's Color Field paintings, you need to see them in person. Rothko painted them to absorb the viewer into the painting, wanting the viewer to be close enough so that the edges of the painting extended beyond the viewer's peripheral vision.
5. Jackson Pollock’s Number 17A (1948) - $200 million
Jackson Pollock's iconic "drip" paintings, created between 1947 and the mid- 1950's, are world-renowned. Their unmistakable style makes them easy to recognize. Pollock's method was similar to the Surrealists with their notions of the subconscious and automatic painting. His technique was based on his "earlier experiments with dripping and splattering paint on ceramic, glass, and canvas on an easel. Now, he laid a large canvas on the floor of his studio barn, nearly covering the space. Using house paint, he dripped, poured, and flung pigment from loaded brushes and sticks while walking around it." "Number 17A" was executed in 1948, a year after the artist introduced his drip technique. It was bought by hedge fund manager Kenneth C Griffin in 2015.
Art of Jackson Pollock - from Thomas Hart Benton to the "Drip" (WITW, Mar 17, 2020)
4. Nafea Faa Ipoipo – Paul Gauguin – $210 million
"All art is either revolution or plagiarism." The Post-Impressionist painter Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) was a true artistic revolutionary. Influenced by Impressionism, he gradually became disillusioned with that style and began experimenting. He felt that traditional European painting had become too imitative and lacked symbolic depth. By contrast, the "Primitive" art of Africa and Asia seemed to him full of mystic symbolism and vigor. He traveled to the South Pacific hoping to find artistic inspiration in ‘primitive’ cultures living in harmony with nature.
Gauguin painted Nafea Faa Ipoipo 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?”.
How Cezanne, Van Gogh, and Gauguin inspired 20th century art (Part III) (WITW, Nov 20, 2018)
3. The Card Players - Paul Cezanne - $250 million
Known as the "Master of Aix" after his ancestral home in the South of France, Paul Cézanne (1839 - 1906) is credited with paving the way for the emergence of twentieth-century modernism, both visually and conceptually. Both Matisse and Picasso have been credited with the line "Cézanne is the father of us all."
Often classified as a Post-Impressionist, Cézanne painted in several styles over the course of his career. During the period from 1890 to 1895, he created five "Card Players" paintings. The men who posed as the Provençal peasants playing cards were farmhands, some of whom were employed at Cézanne's estate. The paintings are considered a cornerstone of his final period, when he created some of his most acclaimed works. The canvases range in size from roughly 4-1/2 by 6 feet all the way down to 1-1/2 by 2 feet, and the chronology of the paintings is a subject of debate. In 2011, one of the paintings was sold for $250 million to the Royal Family of Qatar.
Paul Cézanne: 19th century bridge to 20th century modernism (WITW, Sep 3, 2018)
How Cézanne, Van Gogh, and Gauguin inspired 20th century art (Part I) (WITW, Nov 1, 2018)
2. Interchange – Willem de Kooning – $300 million
Willem de Kooning, (1904 - 1997) was a Dutch-born American painter. He was one of the early and leading proponents of Abstract Expressionism, particularly the form known as Action painting, in which paint is spontaneously dribbled, splashed or smeared onto the canvas, rather than being carefully applied.
Completed in 1955, Interchange marked the transition of the subjects of de Kooning's paintings from women to abstract urban landscapes. De Kooning never fully abandoned the depiction of the human figure, and the fleshy pink mass at the center of this particular painting represents a seated woman. Interchange also reflects a transition in de Kooning's technique due the influence of artist Franz Kline, who inspired de Kooning to paint with quickly made gestural marks as opposed to violent brush strokes
Hedge fund manager Kenneth C. Griffin purchased Interchange in 2015 for $300 million. Griffin's art collection, which also includes No. 5 on the list, Jackson Pollock's No. 17A is valued at $800 million.
1. Salvator Mundi - Leonardo da Vinci - $450 million
In 2017, a mysterious Saudi buyer purchased Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi ("Savior of the World") on behalf of the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture & Tourism. At $450 million, it was the highest price ever paid for a painting.
Commissioned by King Louis XII of France in 15o6 and owned at one time by King Charles I of England, Salvator Mundi portrays Jesus Christ holding a glass sphere symbolizing the world in his left hand and offering a blessing with his right. The meticulous Leonardo finished the painting in 1513. However, somewhere between 1763 and 1900, it disappeared from all records.
In the mid-2000s, a painting long thought to be the work of Boltraffio, an artist who worked in da Vinci's studio, was acquired by the American art dealer Alexander Paris. Paris spearheaded an extensive cleaning and research effort that resulted in the art world deeming it an original da Vinci, the lost Salvator Mundi.
As if the painting going missing for nearly two-and-a-half centuries were not enough to cast doubt on Salvator Mundi's provenance, another controversary arose around the glass sphere. Leonardo was one of the early practitioners of what came to be known as the scientific method, and he was well-versed in the study of optics. Doubters pointed out that there is no distortion of the objects behind the sphere. Enter a team of computer scientists to the rescue. Using digital graphics and light simulation programs, a team from UC-Irvine concluded that the sphere da Vinci painted was hollow glass rather than a solid crystal. As such, it would not distort the light as others have assumed it should.
Leonardo da Vinci was the embodiment of the “Renaissance man” - a polymath who excelled in painting, sculpting, architecture, and engineering, a genial genius who dissected cadavers to learn anatomy, created set designs for festivals and theatrical performances, and entertained friends and the court with riddles and pranks. Only 15 of Leonardo's paintings survive today - among them the iconic Mona Lisa and The Last Supper and now the re-discovered Salvator Mundi.
Leonardo da Vinci (WITW, Jan 22, 2018)
The saga of the painting is the subject of The Lost Leonardo, released in August. You can see the trailer here.
And the mysterious Saudi buyer? It turned out to be Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, implicated a year later in the assassination of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Sources: MarkRothko.org , Jackson-Pollock.org , curious.com , wealthygorilla.com, Great Works of Western Art, Art Story-1, Mentalfloss.com, Britannica, Art Story- 2, Wikipedia, leonardodavinci.net
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