next »

[Rhea Thomas]

1. Nov 5th 1948 by Jackson Pollock



Jackson Pollock’s 1948 painting entitled Nov 5th 1948 was arguably his greatest masterwork, the most vivid expression of the painter’s unique style. When it was sold by David Geffen in 2006, it became the world’s most expensive painting in history at a price-adjusted $149.70 million dollars.

[Rhea Thomas]

2. Woman III by Willem de Kooning



This, the second most-expensive painting in the world was among the collection sold by David Geffen in 2006. Woman III by Willem de Kooning was among six painted by the artist between 1951 and 1953, with this version ending up at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art– where it would be later hid from the public due to its inadherence to the government’s rules of morality.

[Rhea Thomas]

3. Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer by Gustav Klimt



Once the world’s most expensive painting, Gustav Klimt’s Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer took three years to create in oil and gold. The painting was commissioned by a Swiss sugar magnate, a fan of Klimt and the husband of the painting’s subject.

[Rhea Thomas]

4. Portrait of Dr. Gachet by Vincent Van Gogh



This painting was sold to Ryoei Saito in 1990. This would become Van Gogh’s most expensive painting to date, selling for an impressive $82.5 million ($136.1 million today)

[Rhea Thomas]

5. Bal au moulin de la Galette, Montmartre by Pierre-Auguste Renoir



Renoir’s sole entry in the top 15 most expensive paintings is his work Bal au moulin de la Galette. This painting was sold in 1990 to Ryoei Saito, the chairman of a Japanese paper company and a collector of fine art.

[Rhea Thomas]

6. Garçon à la pipe by Pablo Picasso



The “boy at the pipe� is Picasso’s most highly priced painting on this list, having sold for $104.2 million in 2004 (currency adjusted to $118.9 million). The boy in the painting was among the community of entertainers living in the Montmartre section of Paris, many of which were the subjects of Picasso’s red period.