# The most expensive paintings ever sold

The highest prices ever paid for paintings, at auction or in private sales, according to Wikipedia's list. Prices in millions of US dollars, as paid at the time.

- 116 votes · 23 items
- Apr 23, 2026 · K. Rice
- https://even.best/en/l/696/the-most-expensive-paintings-ever-sold

## Top 20

1. **Salvator Mundi** (11 · ▲11 ▼0) — Leonardo da Vinci (attribution disputed). $450.3 million, 2017, Christie's New York. The most expensive painting ever sold; bought for a Saudi buyer.
2. **Interchange** (6 · ▲7 ▼1) — Willem de Kooning. $300 million, 2015, private sale to Kenneth C. Griffin.
3. **The Standard Bearer** (6 · ▲7 ▼1) — Rembrandt. $198 million, 2022, bought by the Rijksmuseum from the Rothschild family.
4. **Shot Sage Blue Marilyn** (6 · ▲6 ▼0) — Andy Warhol. $195 million, 2022, Christie's New York. The most expensive 20th-century work sold at auction.
5. **Wasserschlangen II** (5 · ▲6 ▼1) — Gustav Klimt. $183.8 million, 2013, private sale.
6. **Nafea Faa Ipoipo (When Will You Marry?)** (5 · ▲5 ▼0) — Paul Gauguin. $210 million, 2014, private sale to the State of Qatar.
7. **Nu couché** (5 · ▲5 ▼0) — Amedeo Modigliani. $170.4 million, 2015, Christie's New York.
8. **No. 6 (Violet, Green and Red)** (4 · ▲5 ▼1) — Mark Rothko. $186 million, 2014, private sale to Dmitry Rybolovlev.
9. **Pendant portraits of Maerten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit** (4 · ▲4 ▼0) — Rembrandt. $180 million, 2016, bought jointly by the Louvre and the Rijksmuseum.
10. **Three Studies of Lucian Freud** (4 · ▲4 ▼0) — Francis Bacon. $142.4 million, 2013, Christie's New York.
11. **Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer** (3 · ▲4 ▼1) — Gustav Klimt. $236.4 million, 2025, Sotheby's New York. From the estate of Leonard Lauder.
12. **Number 17A** (3 · ▲4 ▼1) — Jackson Pollock. $200 million, 2015, private sale to Kenneth C. Griffin.
13. **Le Rêve** (3 · ▲4 ▼1) — Pablo Picasso. $155 million, 2013, private sale to Steven A. Cohen.
14. **Les Femmes d'Alger (Version O)** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — Pablo Picasso. $179.4 million, 2015, Christie's New York.
15. **Woman III** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — Willem de Kooning. $137.5 million, 2006, private sale to Steven A. Cohen.
16. **Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — Gustav Klimt. $135 million, 2006, bought by Ronald Lauder for the Neue Galerie. The "Woman in Gold", returned to Maria Altmann's family.
17. **The Card Players** (2 · ▲6 ▼4) — Paul Cézanne. $250 million, 2011, private sale to the State of Qatar.
18. **Nu couché (sur le côté gauche)** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — Amedeo Modigliani. $157.2 million, 2018, Sotheby's New York.
19. **The Scream (pastel, 1895)** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — One of Munch's versions, sold at Sotheby's in 2012 for $119.9 million.
20. **Masterpiece** (1 · ▲2 ▼1) — Roy Lichtenstein. $165 million, 2017, private sale.
21. **Garçon à la pipe** (1 · ▲2 ▼1) — Picasso, 1905; sold at Sotheby's in 2004 for $104 million, then a record.
22. **Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II** (0 · ▲2 ▼2) — Gustav Klimt. $150 million, 2016, private sale.
23. **No. 5, 1948** (0 · ▲2 ▼2) — Jackson Pollock. $140 million, 2006, private sale.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.