Top 10: The most expensive works of art in the world

As of May 2022, Statista GmbH published a list of the most expensive works of art by selling price worldwide. The immensely high sums are mostly reached at auctions in the leading auction houses such as Christie's or Sotheby's. Through such auctions, the sales prices are officially confirmed and always cause great astonishment. 

But why are such high prices paid for old paintings in the first place?
In general, the price of art is difficult to determine. The more famous the artist and the painting, the more expensive the selling price. Demand drives the value up. For those interested in buying, the artwork serves primarily as a good financial investment. In addition, valuable paintings have long been a status symbol of the super-rich. 

Here is the list of the ten most valuable works of art (paintings) worldwide:

Claude Monet (1840-1926)

Claude Monet was a French painter who was already known for his caricatures in his school days. Later he developed a passion for painting in nature. He studied at the Académie Suisse art academy in Paris and there, together with the artists Pissarro, Bazille, Renoir and Sisley, he founded an artistic community that is now considered the cornerstone of Impressionism.

For a long time, his profits from art were modest, until he presented his works for the first time in a solo exhibition in London in 1883. In the same year, he bought a house in Giverny near Paris and lived there until his death on 6 December 1926. Despite several severe illnesses and impaired eyesight, he painted until the end of his life and maintained his Impressionist style.

Pablo Picasso's oil painting "Young Girl with Flower Basket" sold for a staggering $115 million at a Christie's auction in New York in 2018. The painting comes from the collection of Peggy and David Rockefeller and was thus sold at auction for 15 million dollars above its estimated value. Picasso painted the painting after his return to Paris from Holland. It shows a naked young girl with black hair and a basket of flowers.

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)

Picasso was a Spanish painter and sculptor. He is considered one of the most important artists of the 20th century and, together with George Braques, the founder of Cubism. The son of a painter and drawing teacher, he began painting at the tender age of seven under his father's guidance. He later studied painting at the San Fernando Academy in Madrid. In his lifetime, Picasso created more than 15,000 paintings, 3,200 ceramics, 7,000 drawings, 1,200 sculptures and 20,000 prints.

With lot no. 20, the legendary painting "The Scream" by Edvard Munch was auctioned in New York at Sotheby's for 119.9 million dollars in 2012. The auction of the painting lasted 13 minutes and started at 40 million dollars. The winning bid was made by an anonymous bidder on the phone. The previous owner of the artwork was also present at the auction. Petter Olsen had won the painting in an inheritance dispute from his father, who used to be Edvard Munch's neighbour. Olsen gave a message after the rousing auction: for him, the painting shows the moment when man becomes aware of his horrific impact on the environment.

Qi Baishi (1864-1957)

He was an important artist of the 20th century and was honoured with numerous awards in his home country China. As a son, he lived in simple circumstances and was a carpenter and woodcarver. It was not until the age of 20 that he became interested in painting. Baishi is characterised by simple, straightforward structures and powerful, skilful brushstrokes. Even after his unique breakthrough in success, he remained inwardly the simple, down-to-earth man he was before his career as an artist. The eye for small, unnoticed details in everyday life shaped Baishi's art significantly.

The painting was auctioned in 2013 at Christie's auction house in New York and shows the British painter Lucian Freud. He was the grandson of the psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud and a very good friend of Francis Bacon. There is also a painting by Lucian Freud depicting Francis Bacon. The painting "Three Studies of Lucian Freud" has never been offered at auction before. The winning bid was won by the New York dealer Acquavella Galleries Inc. who bought the masterpiece on behalf of a client.

Francis Bacon (1909-1992)

Francis Bacon was born in Dublin and was an interior decorator before he took up painting. He was known as a man of pleasure and was addicted to gambling for some time. It took him 24 years to achieve his great breakthrough with the artwork "Three Studies of Figures at the Foot of a Crucifixion". The artist mainly chose motifs such as deformed bodies, depictions of crucifixions, and portraits of his closest friends and the Pope. He often concentrated on one motif for a long time and created triptychs or diptychs from it.
When his lover George Dyer committed suicide in 1971, his paintings became increasingly sombre and more concerned with death.

In 2018, the painting "Reclining Nude (on the Left)" was auctioned at Sotheby's in New York, making it also the most expensive work of art ever sold at Sotheby's. It was last sold at Christie's auction house in 2003 for a mere $26.9 million. The painting shows a naked woman lying on a white cloth from behind. Her shoulder gaze is turned towards the viewer of the painting. Modigliani liked to paint nudes, which were, however, discredited as scandalous at the time.

Andy Warhol (1928-1987)

Andy Warhol was an American artist who revolutionised Pop Art. He was born in poor, peasant circumstances and contracted the disease "chorea minor" at the age of eight. The pigment disorder was the cause of his extremely fair skin and hair. He was mistaken for an albino because of it. During this time, he began to distract himself from his illness with comics and drawing. This developed into his passion for art.

He completed his graphic arts degree in painting and design. In the spirit of art, he made films with naked people in his studio. This form of art met with a lot of opposition until in 1986 the American Valerie Solanas even made an attempt on the artist's life. He barely survived the gunshot wounds and withdrew a little more afterwards. In 1987, Warhol died under unexplained circumstances during an operation in a New York hospital.

By far the most expensive painting in the world was auctioned off within 19 minutes at Christie's in 2017 and comes from the great artist Leonardo da Vinci. It was created around the year 1500 and shows a portrait of Jesus Christ painted in oil on a 65.7 x 45.7 cm panel of walnut wood. The spectacular sum of 450.3 million dollars set a world record. 

The most expensive work of art in history has had a long journey: according to Christie's, it may have been commissioned by King Louis XII of France and his wife Anne de Bretagne. It follows a long list of owners through inheritances, gifts and sales in royal families and principalities. Then in 1958, it was offered to Sotheby's auction house, which sold it for just $125. The painting disappeared from the scene until 2005 when the two art dealers Alexander Parish and Robert Simon acquired it at a small auction house in New Orleans for $1,175.

Dianne Modestini restored the masterpiece for years and cleared it of overpainting. On her website, she records the various stages of her work and publishes detailed studies, techniques and the history of the masterpiece. In 2013, Sotheby's auctioned the "last Da Vinci" for $80 million to the Geneva dealer Yves Bouvier.

Shortly afterwards, it was sold to the Russian oligarch Dmitri Rybolovlev for $127.5 million. He was the last owner before the incredible record auction took place. The Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman paid the proud sum of 450.3 million dollars and is thus the current owner of the Salvator Mundi.

Where is Salvator Mundi?

Two years later, the painting was to be exhibited in the Louvre in Paris in a jubilee exhibition to mark the 500th anniversary of Leonardo Da Vinci's death. But this did not happen. After extensive research, experts at the Louvre agreed that the work of art was not created by Da Vinci's hands alone. At best, he had contributed parts of it.

The new owner did not want to hear about it and insisted that his original Da Vinci hangs in the exhibition next to the Mona Lisa. Otherwise, his painting should not be available for the exhibition. Politicians and even President Emmanuel Macron himself intervened. The painting did not make it to the exhibition. Its current location is also unknown. It was last seen on the yacht of the Saudi Crown Prince. 

There are many speculations and myths surrounding Leonardo Da Vinci's Salvator Mundi. In the documentary film "The Last Leonardo - The Most Expensive Work of Art in the World", journalist and director Antoine Vitkin goes in search of answers and follows the trail of the painting from 2005.

Leonardo Da Vinci (1452-1519)

The artist, whose real name was Lionardo di ser Piero, was born on 15th April 1452 near the Tuscan municipality of Vinci. Leonardo learned his craft from about 1466 to 1472 from the famous painter and sculptor Andrea Verrocchio. He later went to the Compagnia di San Luca art academy in Florence and then worked at the court of the Sforzas in Milan as a painter, sculptor, architect and engineer. Among other things, he produced his world-famous work "The Last Supper" there. When he returned to Florence around 1500, he dissected human corpses in a hospital and also painted the "Mona Lisa" at this time.

Leonardo Da Vinci is one of the most famous Renaissance painters of all time. In addition to art, he was also involved in music and natural science. His extraordinarily diverse talents earned him a reputation as a universal genius. Researchers discovered records and sketches of experiments with gravity in Da Vinci's scripts. The artist was already dealing with gravity more than 500 years ago and even tried to calculate the gravitational constant. Astonishingly, he was 97% correct with his calculations! Leonardo already recognised the connection between gravity and acceleration at that time. With his thoughts, the artist was far ahead of his time.