Collecting art can be an amazing experience, especially for those who truly appreciate the details and the way these works of art were created, no matter how old. There are many different paintings that sell for huge amounts of money, and while we’d all love to own them, there are simply some that are just completely out of reach.
That doesn’t make these items less desirable, but rather more impressive as it’s so rare to see the actual original and discovering why it’s one of a kind and worth so much. On this list, we look at some of the most expensive painting today and what they sell for.
Mona Lisa
To most, the Mona Lisa shouldn’t even appear on this list as it’s simply priceless. The Leonardo da Vinci painting has become the most famous in the world. Though a price can’t really be set on this painting, it was insured for $100 million back in 1962, which was a huge amount of money for the time. Converting that into today’s value would mean over $700 million, making it the most expensive painting in the world.
Nafea Faa Ipoipo
Paul Gauguin travelled to Tahiti in 1891, which started a love affair the country and its women for the artist. He created the now well-known Nafea Faa Ipoipo painting while in the country, which translates to “Will You Marry Me”. It features 2 women sitting in the countryside among friends of golden grass, mountains and golden skies. The painting appears second on the list as it sold for $300 million in 2015. The current owner is unknown, but many think it’s been acquired by the Qatar royal family.
The Card Players
The Card Players offers an interesting series of painting that were created in 1892 through to 1893 by Paul Cezanne. These paintings are currently in museums in both Paris and London, but it has been said that the painting were sold privately in 2011 for an incredible price of $250 million. Since this took place before the above art sales, it was considered the most expensive painting sale at the time. Once again, the Qatar royal family played a part in this painting as it has been confirmed that the above painting is in their position.
Number 17A
The Jackson Pollock painting known as Number 17A was sold in along with another well-known painting called Interchange, which was sold in 2015 to Ken Griffin. On both the painting, the billionaire spent a total of $500, of which the Number 17A painting was estimated to hold a price tag of $200 million of that price. The painting offers an interesting drip effect with various bright colours and black spots. It was created in 1948, offering a unique inspiration of painters throughout the world to this day. It appears on our list as the 4th most expensive painting.