What is the best artwork ever sold at auction?

Nine-figure hammer prices and a great many raised eyebrows. Money says one thing about these canvases; taste often says another.

1

Salvator Mundi

Sold at Christie's New York on 15 November 2017 for 450.3 million dollars, and still argued over as a Leonardo.

2

Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer

Klimt's 1914 portrait, which passed 236 million dollars at Sotheby's in 2025.

3

Interchange

De Kooning's 1955 abstract landscape, sold privately in 2015 for around 300 million dollars.

4

Les Femmes d'Alger (Version O)

Picasso's 1955 canvas, which set an auction record at 179.4 million dollars in 2015.

5

Shot Sage Blue Marilyn

Warhol's 1964 silkscreen of Monroe, sold in 2022 for 195 million dollars.

6

Portrait of Dr Gachet

Van Gogh's melancholy doctor, whose 1990 sale price stunned the market and then vanished from view.

7

The Card Players

One of Cézanne's five versions, bought by Qatar in a private sale reported above 250 million dollars.

8

No. 6 (Violet, Green and Red)

Rothko's 1951 canvas, sold privately in 2014 for a reported 186 million dollars.

9

Untitled (1982)

Basquiat's skull painting, which took 110.5 million dollars in 2017 and reset the market for American art.

10

Three Studies of Lucian Freud

Bacon's 1969 triptych of his friend and rival, sold in 2013 for 142.4 million dollars.

11

Twelve Landscape Screens

Qi Baishi's 1925 set, the most expensive Chinese artwork ever sold at about 140.8 million dollars.

12

Wasserschlangen II

Klimt's water serpents, sold privately in 2013 for around 183.8 million dollars.