Claude Monet’s 1890 painting “Meules” sold at auction after only eight minutes — for a whopping $110.7 million, according to the New York Times. Sotheby’s claims it is the most an Impressionist work has ever sold for.
In May 2018, Sotheby’s New York broke its own sales record selling Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani’s “Nu couché (sur le côté gauche)” for $157.2 million.
But neither of those even come close to the prices fetched by some other works of art, like a painting attributed to Leonardo da Vinci that was sold for $450.3 million in 2017.
Below, take a look at the 16 most expensive paintings that have sold during auctions or via private sales.
16. Claude Monet’s “Meules” — $110.7 million
Date sold: March 15, 2019
Price: $110.7 million
Type of sale: Sotheby’s New York, auction
15. Jackson Pollock’s “No. 5, 1948” — $140 million
Date sold: November 2, 2006
Price: $140 million
Type of sale: Private sale via Sotheby’s
14. Francis Bacon’s “Three Studies of Lucian Freud” — $142.4 million
Date sold: November 12, 2013
Price: $142.4 million
Type of sale: Christie’s, New York, auction
13. Gustav Klimt’s “Adele Bloch-Bauer II” — $150 million
Date sold: 2016
Price: $150 million
Type of sale: Private sale via Larry Gagosian
12. Pablo Picasso’s “Le Rêve” — $155 million
Date sold: March 26, 2013
Price: $155 million
Type of sale: Private sale
11. Amedeo Modigliani’s “Nu couché (sur le côté gauche)” — $157.2 million
Date sold: May 14, 2018
Price: $157.2 million
Type of sale: Sotheby’s auction
10. Roy Lichtenstein’s “Masterpiece” — $165 million
Date sold: January 2017
Price: $165 million
Type of sale: Private
9. Amedeo Modigliani’s “Nu Couché” — $170.4 million
Date sold: November 9, 2015
Price: $170.4 million
Type of sale: Christie’s, New York, auction
8. Picasso’s “Les Femmes d’Alger (“Version O”)” — $179.4 million
Date sold: May 11, 2015
Price: $179.4 million
Type of sale: Christie’s, New York auction
7. Rembrandt’s “Pendant portraits of Maerten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit” — $180 million
Date sold: September 2015
Price: $180 million
Type of sale: Private
6. Mark Rothko’s “No. 6 (Violet, Green and Red)” — $186 million
Date sold: August 2014
Price: $186 million
Type of sale: Private sale via Yves Bouvier
5. Pollock’s “Number 17A” — ~$200 million
Date sold: September 2015
Price: ~$200 million
Type of sale: Private
4. Paul Gauguin’s “Nafea Faa Ipoipo (When Will You Marry?)” — $210 million
Date sold: September 2014
Price: $210 million
Type of sale: Private
3. Paul Cézanne’s “The Card Players” — $250 million
Date sold: April 2011
Price: $250 million
Type of sale: Private
2. Willem de Kooning’s “Interchange” — ~$300 million
Date sold: September 2015
Price: ~$300 million
Type of sale: Private
1. Painting attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, “Salvator Mundi” — $450.3 million
Date sold: November 15, 2017
Price: $450.3 million
Type of sale: Christie’s, New York, auction
