xigammamu prg 2015

1. The 10 most expensive
paintings ever sold
includes both the private sales
and pictures sold at auction

2. #2. PAUL CÉZANNE
"The Card Players",
1892/93
infl.adj. $263.1 million
($250 million, #2)
Private sale, 2011.
Seller: George
Embiricos. Buyer: Royal
Family of Qatar.
This is the last version of this
famous composition by Paul
Cézanne still in private hands.
The fabulous psychological
intensity in the faces of the
players make this painting a
masterpiece of post-
impressionist art.
Oil on canvas, 97 × 130 cm

3. #1. PAUL GAUGUIN
“When will you marry?)", 1892
$300 million
Private sale, Feb 7, 2015.
Seller: Rudolf Staechelin Family
Trust (Swiss private collection)
Buyer: Qatari Bayer (Qatar Museums ?)
The painting -one of Gauguin's most famous
and reproduced images- depicts a couple of
Tahitian native women, one of them dressed in
a traditional Tahitian dress, while the other
one, showing a serious expression on her face,
is wearing a mission dress.
Oil on canvas, 101 x 77 cm

4. #3. JACKSON POLLOCK
"Number 5, 1948", 1948
infl.adj. $ 164,4 million
($140 million, #5)
Private sale via Sotheby’s, 2006.
Seller: David Geffen.
Buyer: Unknown (rumoured to be Mexican
businessman David Martinez, who declines)
Right now, this stunning "drip" by Jackson Pollock is the most
expensive contemporary painting ever sold, though the exact
price was never confirmed (but the price displayed here is
generally accepted to be true). The exorbitant sum
demonstrates not only the strength of the Art market, but also
the increasing interest for the contemporary works of Art.
Oil on fiberboard, 2.4 m × 1.2 m

5. #4. WILLEM DE KOONING
"Woman III", 1952-53
infl.adj. $161.5 million
($137.5 million, #6)
Private sale, 2006.
Seller: David Geffen (an American
business magnate, producer, film
studio executive, founder of
DreamWorks SKG)
Buyer: Steven Cohen (American hedge
fund manager, #106 by Forbes)
This painting is the only "Woman" by Willem de
Kooning still in private hands. One of this women
- "black goddesses"- has been chosen as one of
the 50 masterworks of the history of painting.Oil on canvas, 172.7 cm × 123.2 cm

6. Willem de Kooning was one of the most
important artists in the Abstract
Expressionist movement. De Kooning was
American but born in the Netherlands,
expressionist but not always abstract.
Woman I (known as “black goddesses”)
WILLEM OF KOONING (Dutch /
American, 1904-1997)
1950-52
oil on canvas, 192.7- 147.3 cm. - New
York, Museum of Modern Art (MOMA)
Oil on canvas, 192.7 x 147.3 cm

7. #5. PABLO PICASSO
"La Rêve (The Dream)", 1932
infl.adj. $157.5 million
($155 million #3)
Private sale, 2013.
Seller: Steve Wynn (Los Vegas)
Buyer: Steven A. Cohen
"La Rêve (The Dream)" is one of
Picasso's most sensual and famous paintings,
depicting his lover Marie-Therese Walter sitting
on a red armchair with her eyes closed. In 2006,
Steve Wynn agreed to sell the painting to Steven
Cohen for $139 million, but the sale was
cancelled when Mr. Wynn accidentally damaged
the work.
Oil on canvas, 130 cm x 97 cm

8. #6. GUSTAV KLIMT
"Adele Bloch-Bauer I", 1907
infl.adj. $158.5 million
($135 million #7)
Private sale via Christie’s, 2006.
Seller: Maria Altmann
Buyer: Ronald Lauder, Neue Galeria
The acquisition of this iconic work by
cosmetic magnate Ronald Lauder caused a
shock in the Art world, not only for the
spectacular sum paid for it, but also for
the way it was sold, far away from the
noisy auction houses. The painting was
part of a group of five canvases which had
been recently returned to the heirs of
Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer. The Nazis
confiscated his paintings during the World
War II, and after the war, the canvases
were placed at the National Gallery of
Austria in 1948.Oil, silver, and gold on canvas , 1.38 m x 1.38 m

9. #7. Vincent van Gogh
"Portrait of Dr. Gachet", 1890
infl.adj. $149.4 million
($82.5 million)
Christie's in NY city, May 15, 1990
Seller: Siegfried Kramarsky’s family
(collector)
Buyer: Ryoei Saito, honorary chairman
of Daishowa Paper Manufacturing Co
Portrait of Dr. Gachet is one of the most revered
paintings by the Dutch artist. It depicts Dr. Paul
Gachet who took care of Van Gogh during the final
months of his life.
Oil on canvas, 67 cm × 56 cm

10. #8. FRANCIS BACON
"Three Studies of Lucian Freud", 1969
infl.adj. $144,7 million
(142,4 million #4)
Christie's New York, 2013.
Seller: Francesco De Simone Niquesa(?).
Buyer: Elaine Wynn, ex-wife of Steve Wynn
Not only the most expensive painting ever auctioned, but also a record for a contemporary work of art. Christie's
explained that when this work was painted, "the relationship between Freud and Bacon was at its apex".
"a true masterpiece" and "an undeniable icon of 20th Century art“ by Christie’s experts
Oil on canvas, 198 cm × 147.5 cm for each canvas

11. Oil on canvas, 178 × 114 cm
#9. Pierre-Auguste Renoir
"Bal du moulin de la Galette", 1876
infl.adj. $141.5 million
($78.1 million)
Sotheby's in NY city, May 17, 1990.
Seller: widow of John Hay Whitney (U.S.
Ambassador to the United Kingdom, publisher
of the New York Herald Tribune, and president
of the Museum of Modern Art)
Buyer: Ryoei Saito, Japan businessman
Is the smaller version of the painting with the same
title owned by Musée d'Orsay, Paris which
considered to be Impressionism's most celebrated
masterpieces. The painting depicts a typical Sunday
afternoon at Moulin de la Galette in the district
of Montmartre in Paris. In the late 19th century,
working class Parisians would dress up and spend
time there dancing, drinking, and eating galettes into
the evening

12. 131 cm × 175 cm 78 × 114 cm

13. #10. Pablo Picasso
"Garçon a la pipe", 1905
infl.adj. $128,1 million
($104.1 million)
Sotheby's New York , May 2004
Seller: Greentree foundation (Whitney’ family)
Buyer: anonymous . Some sources says that he
could be Guido Barilla, the Italian pasta magnate
The sale of this young smoker was a milestone in
the Art auctions world. It broke the record that
Vincent van Gogh held since 1990, and it was the
first time that the $100 million barrier was
broken.Oil on canvas, 100 cm × 81.3 cm

14. Painting Artist
Price, adjusted for
inflation ($m)
Price ($m) Year sold
Gauguin - Nafea Faa Ipoipo (When
Will You Marry?)
Paul Gauguin 300 300 2015
The Card Players Paul Cézanne 263.1 250 2011
No. 5, 1948 Jackson Pollock 164.4 140 2006
Woman III Willem de Kooning 161.5 137.5 2006
Le Rêve Pablo Picasso 157.5 155 2013
Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I Gustav Klimt 158.5 135 2006
Portrait of Dr. Gachet Vincent Van Gogh 149.4 82.5 1990
Three studies of Lucian Freud Francis Bacon 144.7 142.4 2013
Bal du moulin de la Galette Pierre-Auguste Renoir 141.5 78.1 1990
Garçon à la pipe Pablo Picasso 130.6 104.2 2004

15. 8. EDVARD MUNCH
"The Scream", 1895
$119.9 million
Sotheby's New York , May 2012.
Buyer: financier Leon Black
This iconic work was the most expensive
painting ever sold at auction until it was
surpassed by Bacon's "Three Studies of Lucian
Freud". The work is the most colorful of the
four versions of Edvard Munch’s masterpiece
'The Scream', and the only one still in private
hands.
“An icon of modern art, a Mona Lisa for our time."
Oil, tempera, pastel and crayon on cardboard, 91 cm × 73.5 cm

16. 9. JASPER JOHNS
"Flag", 1958
$110 million
Private sale: 2010.
Buyer: Steven Cohen
"Flags" are Jasper Johns most
famous works. The artist painted
his first American flag in 1954–55,
a work now at the MoMA.
107.3 cm by 153.8 cm

17. 10. PABLO PICASSO
"Nude, Green Leaves and Bust", 1932
$106.5 million
Christie's New York , May 2010.
Buyer: anonymous
This sensual and colorful masterpiece the
most expensive work by Picasso ever sold at
auction. The work, formerly in the collection
of Mrs. Sidney F. Brody, had been never
exhibited in public since 1961
Oil paint on canvas, 1.64m x 1.32m

18. More … for less …
Andy Warhol: "Silver Car Crash
[Double Disaster]", 1932
$104.1 million
Sotheby's New York , November
2013.
Buyer: anonymous
The most expensive work by the most
famous legend of Pop Art, Andy Warhol's
monumental "Silver Car Crash" was the star
of the Contemporary Art evening sale at
Sotheby's.
silkscreen ink and silver spray paint on canvas, 267.4 x 417.1 cm

19. Andy Warhol: "Eight Elvises",
1963
$100 million
Private sale, 2008
This unique work by Warhol,
had been at the collection of Roman
collector Annibale Berlingieri for over
40 years. It surpassed the previous
world record for a work by Warhol, the
$71.7 million paid at Christie's New
York in 2007 for "Green Car Crash
(Green Burning Car I)"
Silkscreen on canvas, 2m × 3.7m

20. Pablo Picasso:
"Dora Maar au chat", 1941
$95.2 million
Sotheby's NY auction of
Impressionist/Modern, May 3,
2006
Seller: Gidwitz family of Chicago
Buyer: unknown (Bidzina /Boris/
Ivanishvili ?)
Dora Maar (1907-1997) met Picasso in
1930, and their relationship lasted until
1946. A native from Paris, raised in
Argentina and therefore fluent in Spanish,
Maar was one of Picasso's favorite
models.
Oil paint on canvas, 1.3m x 0.97m

21. Titian: "Diana and Actaeon", 1556-1559 -
$91 million(2009)
Bayer: National Gallery, London and National Gallery of
Scotland (5year rotation)
It was previously at the Duke of Sutherland collection, who
offered it to the U.K. It has a "sister picture", "Diana and
Callisto", bought for £45 million ($72 million) in 2012.
Gustav Klimt: "Adele Bloch-bauer
II ", 1912 - $87.9 million(2006) -
Sold only a few months later than Klimt's
first version of Adele, this extremely
appealing canvas was the star lot in a highly
succesful auction in which four works by
Klimt -including this- totalled a stunning
$192 million. Now on view at MoMA as a
special long-term loan from a private
collection
185 cm × 202 cm

22. Mark Rothko: "Orange, Red, Yellow", 1961 -
$86.9 million(2012) –
sold at Christie's on May 8 2012.
Orange, Red, Yellow as one that "...can
convincingly be argued to be the most
powerful of all his pictures“
"Auction specialists say collectors historically
pay more for works that are red and gold, as
opposed to gray."
Francis Bacon: "Tryptich, 1976", 1976
$86.3 million(2008) - Francis Bacon is one of
the most sought-after names in the Art market,
and this work easily surpassed its impressive $70
million pre-sale estimate at Sotheby's.
Acrylic on canvas , 236.2 cm × 206.4 cm
198 x 147.5 cm each