Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin was a French Post-Impressionist artist. Unappreciated until after his death, Gauguin is now recognized for his experimental use of color and Synthetist style that were distinct from Impressionism. Toward the end of his life, he spent ten years in French Polynesia. The paintings from this time depict people or landscapes from that region.
The Scream is the popular name given to a composition created by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch in 1893. The agonized face in the painting has become one of the most iconic images of art, seen as symbolizing the anxiety of the human condition. Munch's work, including The Scream, would go on to have a formative influence on the Expressionist movement.
Sotheby's is a British-founded American 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, but maintains a significant presence in the UK.
Les Alyscamps is a pair of paintings ("pendants") by Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh. Painted in 1888 in Arles, France, it depicts autumnal scenes in the Alyscamps, an ancient Roman necropolis in Arles which is lined with poplars and stone sarcophagi.
Rideau, Cruchon et Compotier is an oil on canvas painting created circa 1893 to 1894 by French artist Paul Cézanne. It is a formal still life composition that displays Cézanne's exploration of form, balance and symmetry in objects. On 10 May 1999, the painting was sold at Sotheby's auction for $60.5 million, making it the most expensive still life painting ever sold at an auction.
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.
Joseph Lau Luen-hung is a Hong Kong billionaire. Lau is the former chairman of property developer Chinese Estates. He is an avid art and wine collector. His fortune is estimated by Forbes at $13.3 billion as of September 2021. In 2014, he became a convicted felon and fugitive in Macau.
Dmitry Yevgenyevich Rybolovlev is a Russian oligarch, billionaire businessman, and investor.
When Will You Marry? is an oil painting from 1892 by the French Post-Impressionist artist Paul Gauguin. On loan to the Kunstmuseum in Basel, Switzerland for nearly a half-century, it was sold privately by the family of Rudolf Staechelin to Sheikha Al-Mayassa bint Hamad Al-Thani, in February 2015 for close to US$210 million, one of the highest prices ever paid for a work of art. The painting was on exhibition at the Fondation Beyeler, Riehen, until 28 June 2015.
Liu Yiqian is a former Shanghai taxi driver, who turned autodidact billionaire investor and art collector. He has built his fortune since the mid-1980s by investing in stock trading, real estate and pharmaceuticals.
Yves Bouvier is a Swiss businessman and art dealer best known for his role in the Bouvier Affair that resulted in criminal charges being brought against him in France and Monaco. He was the president of Natural Le Coultre, an international company specialized in the transportation, storage, scientific analysis, and conservation of works of art, luxurious goods and other collectibles.
La Gommeuse[la ɡɔmøz] is a 1901 oil on canvas painting by the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso. It dates from his Blue Period and is noted for its caricature of Picasso's friend Pere Mañach painted on the reverse. Gommeuse was sexually charged slang of the time for café-concert singers and their songs. It was offered for sale ex the William I. Koch collection at a Sotheby's, New York, auction on 5 November 2015. The painting realized $67.5 million at the sale, a record for a Blue Period Picasso, placing the painting among the most expensive ever sold.
The Bouvier Affair was a number of international lawsuits that started in 2015, and subsequent events. The lawsuits allege that Swiss art shipper and dealer Yves Bouvier defrauded his clients by misrepresenting the original cost of art works and subsequently overcharging them. The affair has played out in courts in Monaco, Switzerland, France, the US, Hong Kong and Singapore.
No. 6 is a painting by the Latvian-American abstract expressionist artist Mark Rothko. It was painted in 1951. In common with Rothko's other works from this period, No. 6 consists of large expanses of colour delineated by uneven, hazy shades. In 2014, it became one of the most expensive paintings sold at auction.
Interchange, also known as Interchanged, is an 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.
Maison de L'Amitié was a French Regency-style estate in Palm Beach, Florida, United States. The plot area was about 270,000 square feet (25,000 m2) and bordered a length of 492 feet (150 m) on the Atlantic Ocean. It was one of the largest and most expensive homes in the United States. The neoclassical palace had an area of 62,000 square feet (5,800 m2) and its outbuildings an area of 81,740 square feet (7,594 m2). Maison de L'Amitié had three outbuildings: a barn and two houses for guests plus a pool and hot tub. Besides the pool there was an outbuilding with two bedrooms and bathroom. A coach house was located next to the entrance gate, and the third outbuilding was located on the edge of a courtyard. The estate also included a 82,000 square feet (7,600 m2) tennis house.
Water Serpents II, also referred to as Wasserschlangen II, is an oil painting made by Gustav Klimt in 1907. It is the follow-up painting to the earlier painting Water Serpents I. Like the first painting, Water Serpents II deals with the sensuality of women's bodies and same-sex relationships. The painting has a rich history. During World War II, it was stolen by the Nazis, and more recently, it has been the center of a controversy surrounding its record 2013 sale. As of December 2019, it is the 6th most expensive painting in the world and the most expensive work by Klimt to sell.
Nu Couché au coussin Bleu is an oil on canvas painting by Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani created in 1916. The painting is one of the dozens of nudes created by Modigliani between 1916 and 1919.
The Lost Leonardo is a 2021 internationally co-produced documentary film directed by Andreas Koefoed. It follows the discovery and successive sales of the Salvator Mundi painting, allegedly done by Leonardo da Vinci, an artist for whom there are only a few attributed works in existence. The film chronicles the dramatic increases in the painting's value from its original purchase in 2005 for $1,175 to its auction in 2017 for $450 million when it became the most expensive artwork to be sold in history. The use of high-end artwork for hiding wealth, as well as the conflicts created by large commissions and other economic incentives, are explored in the film. It includes interviews with leading art experts and art critics on issues regarding the provenance and the authenticity of the work.
