Top Ten Most Expensive Paintings | Puzzler Online

Great art usually comes at a great price—and sometimes unbelievably so. Here is a list of the highest-priced paintings, sold at auction or privately, by some of the world’s greatest visual artists. These record-breaking compositions may command the highest prices, but the real question left now is, “Where do you hang it?”

1. In November 2006, Jackson Pollock’s No. 5 (1948) sold for $150.6 million.
2. In November 2006, Willem de Kooning’s Woman III (1953) sold for $147.9 million.
3. In June 2006, Gustav Klimt’s Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I (1907) sold for $144.2 million.
4. In May 1990, Vincent Van Gogh’s Portrait of Dr. Gachet (1890) sold for $138.4 million.
5. In May 1990, Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s Bal du Moulin de la Galette (1876) sold for $131.0 million.
6. In May 2004, Pablo Picasso’s Garçon à la pipe (1905) sold for $119.40 million.
7. In August 1989, Vincent Van Gogh’s Portrait of Joseph Roulin (1889) sold for $100.9 million (plus exchange of other works).
8. In May 2006, Pablo Picasso’s Dora Maar au Chat (1941) sold for $101.9 million.
9. In November 1987, Vincent Van Gogh’s Irises (1889) sold for $101.2 million.
10. In October 2008, Andy Warhol’s Eight Elvises (1963) sold for $100.1 million.

Prices were adjusted to account for inflation.

[April issue Puzzler here!]