No. 5, 1948
No. 5, 1948 is reportedly the most expensive painting, which represents abstract expressionist movement, painted by an American painter Jackson Pollock in 1948. Its nest-like appearance with dazzling brown and yellow paint on top of it makes it attractive. The painting was sold for $140 million in 2006, which is valued at $156.8 million as of 2011, and exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art before its selling to David Geffen and then supposedly to David Martinez. The painting is known to be actually owned by Samuel Irving Newhouse, Jr.
Courtesy:wikipedia
Courtesy:wikipedia
Woman III
Woman III, one of the series of six paintings between the year of 1951 and 1953, is the second most expensive painting that was sold for $137.5 million (currently valued at $154.0 million) in November 2006 to billionaire Steven A. Cohen. It was painted by the abstract expressionist, Willem de Kooning. The painting was an integral part of Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art collection from 1970 to 1994 but after 1979’s revolution, due to some strict rules of government about the depiction of the visual art, the painting was not shown. Finally, in 1994, the painting was traded by Thomas Ammann Fine Art and then sold to David Geffen and subsequently to Steven A. Cohen.
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Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I
Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I was created by Gustav Klimt, an Austrian Symbolist painter in 1907. In 2006, the painting was sold for US$135 million, currently valued at $150.2 million as of 2011, to Ronald Lauder for his Neue Galerie in New York City. It took Klimt almost three years to complete this painting; for he used oil and gold has on canvas to show an intricate and complex ornamentation in the Jugendstil style.
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Portrait of Dr. Gachet
Portrait of Dr. Gachet is known to be one of the most famous as well as respected paintings by famous Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh. It portraits Dr. Paul Gachet sitting at a table and leaning his head onto his right arm. He assisted him before some months of his death. The painting was created during the months of May and July 1890 while his stay at the doctor’s home in Auvers-sur-Oise. It was sold in an auction in New York for $82.5 million (estimated price $144.1 as of 2011).
Courtesy:wikipedia
Garçon à la pipe
Garçon à la Pipe is one of the most expensive paintings created in 1905 by Pablo Picasso when he was just 24. It is an oil painting that portraits a Parisian boy who is wearing a garland or wreath of flowers and holding a pipe in his left hand. In 1950, John Hay Whitney purchased the painting for US$30,000 and in 2004, on May 5, it was again sold for at Sotheby’s auction in New York City for US$104. The name of buyer was not exposed but it was speculated that Guido Barilla, the owner of the Barilla Group, bought the painting.
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Nude, Green Leaves and Bust
Nude, Green Leaves and Bust, one of the series of portraits of Picasso’s mistress Marie-Thérèse Walter in 1932, was an asset for over 60 years in the personal collection of Los Angeles art collectors Sidney and Frances Brody before displaying at Tate Modern in London. In 1951, Brodys bought it from Picasso’s dealer and in 1961, the painting was publicly displayed to celebrate Picasso’s 80th birthday. The painting was finally sold for $106.5 at Christies in New York City on May 4, 2010.
picsource:wikipedia
Courtesy:wikipedia
Dora Maar au Chat
Dora Maar au Chat, a painting that portraits the painter’s lover Dora Maar sitting on a chair with her small cat perched on her shoulders, was painted in 1941 by Pablo Picasso. In the 1940s, the painting was owned by Chicago collectors Leigh and Mary Block and during 1940s it went in the captivity of Nazis. In 1963, the painting was sold and was never exhibited until 2006 when it was shown worldwide as part of Sotheby’s exhibitions in London.
This painting is among the world’s most expensive paintings that is now owned by the Gidwitz family of Chicago during 2005 and 2006. It was sold for $95.2 at Sotheby’s.
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Irises
Irises, one of the most expensive paintings created by the famous Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh in the last year before his death in 1890 at the asylum at Saint Paul-de-Mausole in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France. It was first sold to French art critic and anarchist named Octave Mirbeau for 300 francs. In the year 1987, it was most expensive painting that was sold for US$53.9 million to Alan Bond and in 1990 it was re-sold to the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles.
Courtesy:wikipedia
Eight Elvises
Eight Elvises, one of the most expensive silkscreen painting of Elvis Presley in 1963 by American pop artist Andy Warhol. In 2009, according to the report of The Economist the painting was sold to a private collector for $100 million by an Italian art lover Annibale Berlingieri.
Courtesy:wikipedia
Adele Bloch-Bauer II
Adele Bloch-Bauer II, the wife of a wealthy industrialist Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer, is one of the most expensive paintings created in 1912 by Gustav Klimt. . In November 2006, the painting was sold by Christie’s auction house at an auction for approximately $88 million. Adele Bloch-Bauer was the model who was painted twice by Klimt and she had also appeared in the much more famous Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I.
