One would not be off the mark to think that the likes of Vincent Van Gogh and Picasso dominate the market place when it comes to the world’s most expensive paintings… These one off pieces reflect a person’s true wealth and the social status that comes with owning a ‘Gogh’ is worth every penny… to the world’s richest elite.
Thousands, no wait, millions of pounds are spent every year but what are the worlds most sought after art pieces?….
Here Michelle Gibbs investigates the world of the Top Ten Paintings.
There are several problems when one goes to research a topic like this, the foremost being that of the unrecorded market…The wealth and status of the worlds upper elite can not compensate for the unwanted media attention that one would undoubtedly receive when spending mega bucks on a single canvas. Most recently placed as the ‘worlds most expensive painting’ would be expressionist Jackson Pollock latest masterpiece… In his trademark drip tip style the 4′ 8′ tiny painting went for a reported $140 million (Just over £71.5 million) to media mogul David Geffen in 2006.
Although the sale of this masterpiece never went on record the buzz that continues to rock the art world still places this as the worlds most expensive painting.
Having said this my quest continues to find the Worlds Most Expensive paintings on Record … and proudly at the number 1 spot is painting No.5, 1948 by the famous Jackson Pollock, even today his work is regarded special and commands the highest prices. Taking a hugh $140,000,000.
At the number 2 spot takes me to that of the Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer by Gustav Klimt, which went for a record $135,000,000 (Just over £69,000,000). Painted in 1907 the sale caused much controversy in the artist’s native Austria where a court order was issued by the government to return the piece to Bloch-Bauer’s heir. It was purchased by Cosmetics heir Ronald S. Lauder in 2006.
Picasso’s Garcon a la Pipe ranks highly at Number 3…This piece caused quite a stir when it went at New York’s Sotheby’s auction for $104,100,000 (Just over 53,313,000) in 2004. The reason being so that this oil on canvas painting of a Parisian boy holding a pipe in his left hand was not typical to this Cuban artists usual style.
At Number 4 is another Picasso masterpiece… In fact one of this last portraits he was ever to paint almost doubled its estimate value at another Sotheby’s auction in 2006. Dora Maar au Chat fetched $95,200,000 (£48,763,000) to an anonymous buyer…
Vincent Van Gogh ranks next at Number 5 Japanese businessman Ryoei Saito paid $82.5 million (Little over £42 million) at Christies in New York for the Portrait of Dr. Gachet. Gogh painted two versions of this painting, and the other one can be seen displaying a slightly different colour scheme at the Musee D’Orsay in Paris.
The next few get a little bit tricky… Conflicting reports in the art world means its difficult to depict who the official Number 6 goes to but after much research I’m going to go with Claude Monet’s Le Bassin Aux Nympheas masterpiece which fetched almost £41 ($80,000,000) at Christie’s in London June 2008. It made a record in being the highest price of art sold by Christies in Europe.
image: www.tulegallery.com
French artist Pierre- Auguste Renior’s Bal Au Moulin de la Galette deserves a mention securing the Number 7 slot. Painted in 1876 it sold for $78,000,000 (£39,946,207) at Sotheby’s in NYC to Ryoei Saito who had already purchased our Number 7 Van Gogh Portrait of Dr. Gachet masterpiece.
Most art journo’s agree on the next piece… Ranking in at Number 8 is the 17th century painting by Peter Paul Rubens. Painted in 1611 it sold in 2002 again at a Sotheby’s auction for a little over $75million (Almost £38.5million). Kenneth Thomson, 2nd Baron Thomson of Fleet is the proud owner of ‘Massacre of the Innocents.’
Close to the bottom spot, this Number 9 painting goes to another Picasso piece. Depicting the dark and sad time of this artist’s life the 1901 Femme aux Bras Croisés went for $55 million (Just over £28,000,000). This painting is part of the artists famous Blue Period and depicts a woman with her arms crossed staring at the endless nothing.
And at Number 10, is another Vincent Van Gogh creation. ‘Irises’ was painted at the Saint Paul-de-Mausole in France in 1889 just one year before his death. It sold for $53,900,000 (£27,601,000) to Alan Bond but was later resold to the Getty Museum.
So there you have it, our Top Ten of the worlds most famous paintings…on record!
Images have been obtained from: http://en.wikipedia.org unless stated otherwise.
