List of most expensive artworks by living artists

Last updated

The highest known price paid for an artwork by a living artist was for Jasper Johns's 1958 painting Flag . Its 2010 private sale price was estimated to be about US$110 million ($154 million in 2023 dollars). [1]

Contents

All-time

This is a list of highest prices ever paid—at auction or private sale—for an artwork by an artist living at time of sale.

Adjusted price

(in millions of USD)

Original price

(in millions of USD)

WorkArtistDateVenueRef.
154110 Flag Jasper Johns 2010Private sale [1]
10991.1 Rabbit Jeff Koons May 2019 Christie's [2] [3]
11090.3 Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) David Hockney November 2018 Christie's [4]
12180False Start Jasper Johns October 2006Private sale [5]
6868.3Standard Station, Ten-Cent Western Being Torn in Half Ed Ruscha November 2024 Christie's [6]
6262The Journey of Humanity Sacha Jafri March 2021Humanity Inspired Royal Charity Auction, Dubai [note 1] [7] [8]
7658.4 Balloon Dog (Orange) Jeff Koons November 2013 Christie's [9]

Progressive auction sales records

This is a list of progressive records of the highest price ever paid at auction for the work of an artist who was living at time of sale. As a progressive record listing, it only lists auctions records that topple the previous best. The current record price is US$91 million for Jeff Koons's 1986 sculpture, Rabbit , set in 2019. The current record price for a painting is $90 million for David Hockney's 1972 Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) , set the prior year.

Adjusted price

(in millions of USD)

Original price

(in millions of USD)

WorkArtistDateAuction

house

Ref.
91.8291.1 Rabbit Jeff Koons May 2019 Christie's [2] [3]
92.4890.3 Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) David Hockney November 2018Christie's [4]
64.6858.4 Balloon Dog (Orange) Jeff Koons November 2013Christie's [9]
41.1137.1 Domplatz, Mailand Gerhard Richter May 2013 Sotheby's [10]
38.1634.2Abstraktes Bild (809-4) (1994) Gerhard Richter October 2012Sotheby's [11]
40.0333.6 Benefits Supervisor Sleeping Lucian Freud May 2008Christie's [12]
28.9823.6Hanging Heart (Magenta/Gold) Jeff Koons November 2007Sotheby's [13]
23.9119.3Lullaby Spring Damien Hirst June 2007Sotheby's [14]
36.4817False Start Jasper Johns November 1988Sotheby's [15]
15.027 White Flag Jasper Johns November 1988Christie's [16]
9.184.18Diver Jasper Johns May 1988Christie's [17]
8.283.63 (tied)Pink Lady Willem de Kooning May 1987Sotheby's [18]
8.493.63 (tied)Out the Window Jasper Johns November 1986Sotheby's [19]
3.231.2Two Women Willem de Kooning May 1982Christie's [20]
2.190.8L'Enigme du Desir/Ma Mere, Ma Mere, Ma Mere Salvador Dalí March 1982Christie's [21]
4.130.53Mother and Child Pablo Picasso April 1967Sotheby's [22] [23]
1.880.22Death of Harlequin/Woman in a Garden Pablo Picasso 1962Sotheby's [24] [25]
1.340.15 (tied)La Belle Hollandaise Pablo Picasso May 1959Sotheby's [26] [27]
1.340.15 (tied)Mother and Child Pablo Picasso November 1958Sotheby's [28]
0.066Friedland, 1807 Ernest Meissonier March 1887 Stewart estate sale [29] [30]
0.045Les Communiantes Jules Breton May 1886 Mary J. Morgan estate sale [31] [32]

Private sales

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jasper Johns</span> American painter (born 1930)

Jasper Johns is an American painter, sculptor, draftsman, and printmaker. Considered a central figure in the development of American postwar art, he has been variously associated with abstract expressionism, Neo-Dada, and pop art movements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christie's</span> British auction house

Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, and it has additional salerooms in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Milan, Amsterdam, Geneva, Shanghai, and Dubai. It is owned by Groupe Artémis, the holding company of François Pinault. In 2022 Christie's sold US$8.4 billion in art and luxury goods, an all-time high for any auction house. On 15 November 2017, the Salvator Mundi was sold at Christie's in New York for $450 million to Saudi Prince Badr bin Abdullah Al Saud, the highest price ever paid for a painting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sotheby's</span> International auction house

Sotheby's is a British-founded multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and maintains a significant presence in the UK.

<i>Garçon à la pipe</i> Painting by Pablo Picasso

Garçon à la Pipe is an oil on canvas painting by Pablo Picasso. It was painted in 1905 when Picasso was 24 years old, during his Rose Period, soon after he settled in the Montmartre area of Paris. The painting depicts a Parisian adolescent boy who holds a pipe in his left hand and wears a garland of flowers on his head, surrounded by two floral decorations. The subject was a local boy named "P’tit Louis" who died at a young age. The painting is listed as one of the most expensive paintings, after being sold at Sotheby's auction for $104 million on 5 May 2004. It is currently the fifth highest selling painting by Picasso.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Art auction</span>

An art auction or fine art auction is the sale of art works, in most cases in an auction house.

<i>Dora Maar au Chat</i> Painting by Pablo Picasso

Dora Maar au Chat is an oil-on-canvas painting by Pablo Picasso. It was painted in 1941 and depicts Dora Maar, the artist's lover, seated on a chair with a small cat perched on her shoulders. The painting is listed as one of the most expensive paintings, after achieving a price of $95 million at Sotheby's on 3 May 2006. It is currently the sixth-highest-selling painting by Picasso.

<i>Le Rêve</i> (Picasso) 1932 oil painting by Pablo Picasso

Le Rêve is a 1932 oil on canvas painting by Pablo Picasso, then 50 years old, portraying his 22-year-old mistress Marie-Thérèse Walter. It is said to have been painted in one afternoon, on 24 January 1932. It belongs to Picasso's period of distorted depictions, with its oversimplified outlines and contrasted colors resembling early cubism. The erotic content of the painting has been noted repeatedly, with critics pointing out that Picasso painted an erect penis, presumably symbolizing his own, in the upturned face of his model. On 26 March 2013, the painting was sold in a private sale for $155 million, making it one of the most expensive paintings ever sold.

Victor Wendell Ganz (1913–1987) was an American business owner and art collector. He was the president of D. Lisner & Company, a small costume jewelry manufacturer. With limited resources he and his wife Sally Wile-Ganz built one of the most important collections of contemporary art in the 20th century. They became known for their ability to choose art, as "collectors who never made a mistake". Their collection was sold after their deaths in record-setting auctions.

Jose Mugrabi is an Israeli businessman and art collector of Syrian descent. With a family net worth estimated at $5 billion, he is the leading collector of Andy Warhol, with 800 artworks.

<i>White Flag</i> (painting) Painting by Jasper Johns

White Flag is an encaustic painting by the American artist Jasper Johns. Created in 1955, soon after his first flag painting, entitled simply Flag, it was the first painting by Johns to be acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York, bought from the artist in 1998. The price was undisclosed but experts estimated its value at the time as more than $20 million.

<i>Interchange</i> (de Kooning) Painting by Willem de Kooning

Interchange, also known as Interchanged, is a 1955 abstract expressionist oil painting on canvas by Dutch-American painter Willem de Kooning (1904–1997). Like Jackson Pollock, de Kooning was one of the early artists of the abstract expressionism movement, the first American modern art movement. The painting measures 200.7 by 175.3 centimetres and was completed in 1955. It marked the transition of the subjects of de Kooning's paintings from women to abstract urban landscapes. It reflects a transition in de Kooning's painting technique due the influence of artist Franz Kline, who inspired de Kooning to paint with quickly made gestural marks as opposed to violent brush strokes. The painting features a fleshy pink mass at its center, representing a seated woman.

<i>Yo, Picasso</i> Painting by Pablo Picasso

Yo, Picasso, is an oil-on-canvas painting by Pablo Picasso, which he painted in 1901. It is a self-portrait of the artist that depicts him in his youth, aged 19. The painting was created at the beginning of Picasso's Blue Period. On 9 May 1989, the painting sold at Sotheby's, achieving a price of $47.85 million, making it one of the most expensive paintings sold up to that date.

Wendell Cherry was an American lawyer, entrepreneur, art collector and patron. The company he co-founded, Humana, grew under his leadership to become the largest hospital operator in the United States. In the 1980s he also built one of the country's most important art collections.

Allan Barry Stone (1932–2006) was an American art dealer, collector, and leading authority on Abstract Expressionism. In 1960, he founded the Allan Stone Gallery where he became renowned for his early advocacy of preeminent 20th-century artists. He championed artists such as John Chamberlain, Joseph Cornell, Willem de Kooning, Richard Estes, Arshile Gorky, John Graham, Eva Hesse, Franz Kline, Yasuhide Kobashi, Wayne Thiebaud, and Jack Whitten. He was also known for his zealous and eclectic approach to art collecting, amassing a collection that spanned painting, sculpture, assemblage, collage, folk art, Art Nouveau, Art Deco, furniture, mechanical parts, signs, and bugatti cars. At the time of his death, he had the largest collection of African and Oceanic art in private hands.

<i>Untitled</i> (1982 Basquiat skull painting) Painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat

Untitled is a painting created by American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat in 1982. The artwork, which depicts a skull, is among the most expensive paintings ever. In May 2017, it sold for $110.5 million at Sotheby's, the highest price ever paid at auction for artwork by an American artist in a public sale. That record was surpassed by Shot Marilyns by Andy Warhol, which sold for $195 million in May 2022.

<i>Warrior</i> (Basquiat) 1982 painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat

Warrior is a painting created by American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat in 1982. It is interpreted as "a semi-autobiographical work championing his creative vision as a black artist." In March 2021, the painting sold for $41.8 million at Christie's in Hong Kong, becoming the most expensive Western artwork sold at auction in Asia.

<i>In This Case</i> 1983 painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat

In This Case is a 1983 painting created by American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat in 1983. The artwork, which depicts a skull, is among the most expensive paintings ever purchased. In May 2021, it sold for $93.1 million at Christie's New York, the second highest auction record by Basquiat.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Vogel, Carol (March 18, 2010). "Planting a Johns 'Flag' in a Private Collection". The New York Times.
  2. 1 2 Reyburn, Scott (May 16, 2019). "Jeff Koons Rabbit Sets Auction Record for Most Expensive Work by Living Artist". The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331.
  3. 1 2 "The 10 Moments That Defined Art in the 2010s". Artsy . December 16, 2019. Retrieved December 29, 2019.
  4. 1 2 Reyburn, Scott; Pogrebin, Robin (November 16, 2018). "David Hockney Painting Sells for $90 Million, Smashing Record for Living Artist". The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on April 3, 2019. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  5. ↑ Vogel, Carol (October 12, 2006). "Works by Johns and de Kooning Sell for $143.5 Million". The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331.
  6. ↑ https://www.forbes.com/sites/natashagural/2024/11/19/synthesis-and-climax-of-1960s-ed-ruscha-masterpieces-sets-new-artist-record-selling-for-683-million-at-christies-new-york/
  7. ↑ British artist sells world's largest painting The Journey of Humanity for $62m, The Guardian , March 22, 2021
  8. ↑ Sophie Prideaux, World's largest painting created in Dubai by Sacha Jafri sells for record-breaking $62 million, The National , March 23, 2021
  9. 1 2 Vogel, Carol (October 19, 2018). "At $142.4 Million, Triptych Is the Most Expensive Artwork Ever Sold at an Auction". The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on April 1, 2019. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  10. ↑ "Richter painting breaks record". BBC News . May 15, 2013. Archived from the original on April 25, 2019. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  11. ↑ Ng, David (October 15, 2012). "Gerhard Richter painting owned by Eric Clapton sets auction record". Los Angeles Times . ISSN   0458-3035. Archived from the original on May 16, 2019. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  12. ↑ Gelder, Lawrence Van (May 19, 2008). "The Mystery Art Buyer". The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on May 7, 2019. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  13. ↑ Gleadell, Colin (November 26, 2007). "Sothebys Scores Its Highest-Ever $316M Contemporary Auction". ARTnews . Archived from the original on November 20, 2018. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  14. 1 2 Holmes, Pernilla (October 1, 2007). "The Branding of Damien Hirst". ARTnews . Archived from the original on June 1, 2016. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  15. ↑ Reif, Rita (November 11, 1988). "Jasper Johns Painting Is Sold for $17 Million" . The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on April 2, 2019. Retrieved May 16, 2019. Johns's "False Start" was sold for $10 million more than his "White Flag" had brought at Christie's, establishing a new high for a work by a living artist.
  16. ↑ Reif, Rita (November 10, 1988). "Johns's 'White Flag' Is Sold for Record Price" . The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on April 27, 2019. Retrieved May 16, 2019. Jasper Johns's ghostlike "White Flag," ... was sold last night at Christie's for $7 million, the highest price ever paid for a work by a living artist.
  17. ↑ "Buyer of Johns Painting". The New York Times . May 9, 1988. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on May 25, 2015. Retrieved May 16, 2019. ... Jasper Johns's fiercely compelling Diver, from 1962, which brought $4.2 million last Tuesday at Christie's, ... was an auction record for a work by any living artist.
  18. ↑ Reif, Rita (May 5, 1987). "De Kooning Painting Ties Auction Record". The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331. Willem de Kooning's 'Pink Lady' from 1944 tied the record at auction for a contemporary painting and for a work by a living artist when it was sold last night for $3.63 million at Sotheby's.
  19. ↑ Reif, Rita (November 11, 1986). "Jasper Johns Painting Brings Record Price". The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331. Jasper Johns's boldly colored and Expressionistic 'Out the Window,' from 1959, was sold last night for the highest price ever paid at auction for a work by a living artist ...
  20. ↑ Carter, E. Graydon (May 23, 1983). "People". Time . Vol. 121, no. 21. p. 51. ISSN   0040-781X – via EBSCOhost. At Christie's in New York City last week, the house applauded enthusiastically as the gavel went down on Abstract Expressionist Willem de Kooning's Two Women. Reason: a price of $1.2 million, the most money paid for a work by a living artist.
  21. ↑ "Dali's 'Mere' Sets Auction Record". The New York Times . March 31, 1982. ISSN   0362-4331. Christie's, the auctioneer, said the price for 'Ma Mere,' French for 'My Mother,' was a record auction figure for a living artist.
  22. ↑ "Picasso Brings Record $532,000; Price at Sotheby's Is Highest for Work by Living Artist". The New York Times . April 27, 1967. pp. 1, 19. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved December 27, 2019. A Picasso painting brought the highest price ever paid for a work by a living artist. ... At Sotheby & Co., $532,000 was paid for an early Picasso, a 1902 'Mother and Child,' of the artist's Blue Period. ... The Picasso ran far ahead of the former record-holder, 'Death of Harlequin,' which brought $198,000 at Sotheby's in 1962. ... It was pointed out that possibly more may have been paid at a private sale for a work by the Spanish master.
  23. ↑ "Price of a Picasso". Time Magazine . 89 (18): 60. May 5, 1967. ISSN   0040-781X. At Sotheby's auction house last week, Picasso's down-and-out souvenir, Mother and Child by the Sea, brought the highest price ever paid for a work by a living artist: $532,000, more than double the previous record, also held by Picasso, whose Death of Harlequin sold in 1962 for $224,000.
  24. ↑ Reif, Rita (August 8, 1989). "42 Artworks Collected by Paul Mellon to Be Sold". The New York Times . p. 53. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved December 27, 2019. Picasso's 'Death of Harlequin' from 1905 sold for $224,000, a record at auction for a work by a living artist, at a much publicized 1962 auction of W. Somerset Maugham's collection at Sotheby's in London.
  25. ↑ "Master Auctioneer". Time Magazine . 79 (16): 76. April 20, 1962. ISSN   0040-781X . Retrieved December 27, 2019. The 35 paintings went for $1,466,864, including $244,000—the highest price ever paid at auction for a living artist—for a Picasso curiosity that showed The Death of Harlequin on one side and Woman Seated in a Garden on the other.
  26. ↑ "In Our Pages: 100, 75, 50 Years Ago". The New York Times . May 6, 2009. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved December 27, 2019. A painting of a nude Dutch girl ... was auctioned off here today for £55,000 ($154,000) — the highest bid ever made anywhere for the work of a living artist. ... 'La Belle Hollandaise,' ... The latest sale bested the record brought by another Picasso, 'Mother and Child,' according to Sotheby's.
  27. ↑ "Auction Records Broken in London: A Picasso Sold for £55, 000." Illustrated London News, May 16, 1959, p. 835. Gale   HN3100388967 "... at Sotheby's on May 6, an early Picasso nude... was sold ... for £55,000, the highest price ever paid in an auction room for the work of a living artist. Prior to this the record had been held by another Picasso, a Mother and Child, which was sold last November in New York for £54,000.
  28. ↑ Saarinen, Aline B. (November 20, 1958). "Auction of Art Brings $1,548,500: 1903 Picasso Sells for $152,000—Gallery Filled by 2,000". The New York Times . p. 1. ISSN   0362-4331. ProQuest   114520684. The top price of $152,000 was paid... for a 1903 Picasso, 'Mother and Child.' It is a record price for a Picasso sold at auction.
  29. ↑ M'Cormick, William B. (July 1913). "The Million Dollar Picture: Will It Ever Arrive?". Arts & Decoration. 3 (9): 306–307. In 1887 the world of art was astonished when Judge Hilton, of New York City, paid $66,000 for Meissonier's Friedland—1807, at the sale of the A. T. Stewart collection in Chickering Hall. That was the highest price ever paid for a painting at public sale anywhere in the world up to that time.
  30. ↑ Tyrrell, Henry (September 1908). "Bulling the Art Market: Million Dollars Worth of Meissoniers". The Scrap Book. 6 (3): 438.
  31. ↑ Lettres, sciences, arts: Encyclopédie universelle du XXe siècle. 1908. 3: 85. "... les Communiantes (Salon de 1884): 227,500 fr. C'est l'enchère la plus considèrable qui ait été atteinte jusqu'alors par un tableau d'artiste vivant"
  32. ↑ Methodist Magazine . January 1901. p. 81: "For the painting of 'The First Communion,' by Breton, [ Lord Strathcona ] paid the sum of $45,000, the highest price, it is said, ever paid for a modern picture sold at auction."
  33. ↑ Carol Vogel, Works by Johns and de Kooning Sell for $143.5 Million, The New York Times, October 12, 2006
  34. ↑ Muchnic, Suzanne (February 19, 1988). "Is Jasper Johns New Van Gogh of the Art Market?". Los Angeles Times . ISSN   0458-3035. Johns' works bring high prices in private sales too. The Whitney Museum of American Art in 1980 paid $1 million--a stunning price at the time--for his "Three Flags" painting in a private transaction.
  35. ↑ Vogel, Carol (February 3, 2008). "The Gray Areas of Jasper Johns". The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on June 22, 2018. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  36. ↑ Biddle, Flora Miller (2017). The Whitney Women and the Museum They Made: A Family Memoir. Skyhorse. p. 381. ISBN   978-1-62872-809-5.
  37. ↑ LIFE Dec 27, 1968, p. 120. "Picasso's top price—in fact, the top price in history for the work of a living artist—was set in Basel, Switzerland, where citizens raised $1,950,000 to buy Two Brothers, 1905, and Seated Harlequin, 1923, for their museum."
  38. ↑ King, Ross (2009). The Judgment of Paris: The Revolutionary Decade that Gave the World Impressionism. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 370. ISBN   978-0-8027-1841-9. In 1890, the year before Meissonier's death, Alfred Chauchard, owner of the Grands Magasins du Louvre, an enormous department store in the Rue de Rivoli, paid a staggering 850,000 francs when The Campaign of France, formerly owned by Gaston Delahante, came onto the market. ... This stratospheric price made The Campaign of France the most expensive painting ever purchased during the nineteenth century, by a painter either living or dead.
  1. ↑ The auction was organized in partnership with UNICEF, UNESCO, Ministry of Education of the United Arab Emirates, and the Global Gift Foundation.
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