What artist these days wouldn’t want to have their work on a list of highest paid paintings? Unfortunately, the reality is that they don’t call them “starving artists” for nothing. The majority of aspiring new Rembrandts will barely etch out a living from their art, let alone swim in a pile of Benjamins.
To be fair, most of the best artists don’t do it for money. They paint because they have to, even if it means skipping dinner to pay for supplies. Paint flows in their veins. However, the fruits of your labor hitting the financial big-times is one surefire way to measure artistic success, even if it is posthumous (e.g.- Vince van Gogh.)
These are ten of the most expensive paintings sold at auction adjusted for 2008 dollars.
1. No. 5, 1948, Jackson Pollack $149.7 Million
Pollack exploded onto the art scene in 1950s America as his paint splattered onto his canvases. After experimenting with Cubism with relatively mediocre success, Pollack innovated his “paint drip” method, dripping and throwing from sticks and brushes, and the world was fascinated.
The painting was sold in 2006 and remains the most expensive painting ever sold, privately or at auction.
2. Woman III, Willem De Kooning $147 Million
Willem De Kooning was a friend of Jackson Pollack and also belonged to the same New York abstract expressionist movement. Woman III was part of a series painted in the early ’50s with a theme of, you guessed it, women. This one demonstrates De Kooning’s unique style and color palette.
3. Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, Gustave Klimt $144.4 Million
Adele Bloch-Bauer was the wife of Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer, wealth industrialist and patron of Klimt’s artworks.
The Adele paintings are extravagant examples of Klimt’s beautiful gold leaf methods of combining gold to an oil painting. He is one of the most prominent modern artists to use precious metals silver and gold in paintings. Adele Bloch-Bauer was the only model to have been painted by Klimt more than once.
It sold in a private sale in 2006 for $135 Million, and was the most expensive painting until the Pollack sold.
4. Portrait of Dr. Gachet, Vincent van Gogh $136.1 Million
Portrait of Dr. Gachet, when sold in 1990, held the record for most expensive painting al the way until 2006. Van Gogh painted the portrait of his doctor during his last few months with a melancholy mood, which he thought expressed the inner soul.
We all know van Gogh only sold one painting in his lifetime, but fortunately this never stopped him from being a prolific and innovative artist who, years after his death up till now, remains one of the most popular and well-known artists. It is only fitting that 3 of the top 10 most expensive paintings belong to him.
5. Bal au moulin de la Galette, Montmartre, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, $128.8 Million
Painted in 1876 by Impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir, this painting shows the distinctive Impressionist style and technique and the optimism of an up-and-coming young artist ready to tackle the world with his art. Its composition and the openness of the subject matter shine a light on Renoir’s personality.
6. Garcon a la Pipe, Pablo Picasso $118.9 Million
Another frequent name on the list of most expensive paintings is Pablo Picasso, the prolific founder of Cubism, who never stopped changing and innovating his styles. Boy With Pipe shows a Picasso painting of early years, from his “Rose Period,” aptly named for its warm tones and subject matter.
Its place on this list helps to show that Picasso has extremely popular paintings from all his periods, and not just the well-known Cubist paintings. Other Picasso paintings of this period often depict locals, like this boy, clowns and acrobats.
7. Irises, Vincent van Gogh $102.3
The second van Gogh on the list shows a slightly more cheerful, yet just as cool painting portraying a close-up of irises. Van Gogh always painted from nature and surroundings and loved to paint flowers, the most famous being his Sunflower series. Though painted in an asylum a year before his death, this painting shows van Gogh’s release from tension and ability to use art to calm his nerves. He called painting a way to keep from going insane.
The painting also highlights the strong Japanese influence on the artist.
8. Dora Maar au Chat, Pablo Picasso $101.8 Million
This painting shows more of his well-known Cubist style and much more intensity than the Boy With Pipe. The subject is Dora Maar, with whom Picasso had a nearly 30 year relationship. She was his lover and artistic companion and even assisted with the famous Guernica. Contrary to what you may think at the first glance of such an unflattering depiction, to be painted in one of Picasso’s most vibrant and complex portraits is quite the compliment.
9. Portrait of the Artist Without a Beard, Vincent van Gogh $94.6 Million
The third van Gogh on our list is one of many self-portraits executed by the artist. Van Gogh was a prolific painter, and painted constantly everything he saw. During the last two months of his life, he painted about a canvas per day. Painting the auto-portrait only made sense because the model would always be there, and wouldn’t complain too much.
This painting, one of the unique one without a beard, sold at Christie’s Auction house in New York in 1998.
10. Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II, Gustave Klimt $94 Million
Adele Bloch-Bauer enjoys her status of being the only model to have been painted by Klimt twice, and the second, less extravagantly painted, Klimt work to be on the top ten most expensive paintings.
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