Top 10 Most Expensive Auctioned Works of the 21st Century

Immerse yourself in the luxury of art with the 10 most expensive auctions of the century.

Let's say you're one of those people bathed in money, how much would you pay for a work by your favorite artist? Auctions are the favorite stage for art collectors and a place where we, ordinary citizens, are left with our mouths open when we see the exorbitant figures paid.

To give you an idea, today we take a look at the 10 most expensive works of art of the 21st century bought at auctions.

10. Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, by Gustav Klimt, for 135 million dollars

This work, also known as The Golden Lady, was acquired in 2006 by Ronald Lauder, owner of the Neue Galerie in New York. Since then, it has been exhibited in this gallery, which does not usually enter the more traditional tourist circuits. But if you visit New York, you have to go to the famous Golden Lady, because it is a real beauty. In addition, before reaching the hands of Lauder, this piece passed from Jews to Nazis to return to the family of its original owners. You can learn all about its history in the great movie The Golden Lady.

9. Number 5, by Jackson Pollock, for $140 million

The staggering figure paid by Ronald Lauder for Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I was immediately overshadowed by the auction of Jackson Pollock's Number 5. This work hung for a time on the walls of the Museum of Modern Art in New York (MoMA), but then passed into the hands of Hollywood producer David Geffen and became a hidden work. Finally, David Geffen auctioned it under the supervision of Sotheby's and it was acquired by Mexican David Martinez, who also has it in his collection.

8. The Dream, by Pablo Picasso, for $179.4 million

In 2013, fund manager Steven A. Cohen acquired the work The Dream, by Pablo Picasso, which then belonged to casino magnate Steve Wynn and which represents Marie-Thérse Walter, lover of the famous artist from Malaga. But the story between buyer and seller goes back a long way. Steve Wynn was showing the work to some friends and boasting that he had sold it for 139 million dollars. At the time, an accidental nudge caused a hole in the work, which prevented him from selling it until it had been repaired, seven years later.

7. Violet, green and red, by Mark Rothko, for $180 million

Are you one of those people who, when you see a work like this, understand neither its meaning nor its success? Well, in 2014, Russian businessman Dmitry Rybolovlev paid $180 million for it. Moreover, this work is one of the works involved in the "Bouvier Scandal", one of the most well-known legal battles in the art world, for which Rybolovlev accuses Swiss art dealer Yves Bouvier of swindling him out of a billion dollars by selling him a collection of paintings with exorbitant profit margins.

6. The Women of Algiers, by Pablo Picasso, for $180 million

Picasso returns to the list with The Women of Algiers, a work that is the culmination of a series of 15 paintings in which the Spanish author made a cubist version of the work of the same title by Eugène Delacroix, as well as a tribute to Jacqueline, the last of Picasso's women. Before its auction, the painting came from the collection of Victor and Sally Ganz, two major art collectors who acquired this Picasso work, along with 14 other paintings, for just over $200,000.

5. Number 17A, by Jackson Pollock, for $200 million

Kenneth Griffin is, since 2016, the owner of this painting, news that went around the world, not so much because he paid $200 million for Pollock's work, but because that same night he got his hands on two paintings in one go, shelling out a total of $500 million. Which was the other? You'll have to read on to find out.

4. The Card Players, by Paul Cézanne, for $250 million

In 2012, a new work of art went on to become the most expensive painting in history. It was The Card Players by Paul Cézanne and who was going to be able to raise all that money? Of course, the royal family of Qatar. The painting belonged to Greek billionaire Yorgos Embiricos, who died before the sale, which his heirs closed.

3. When are you getting married?, by Paul Gauguin, for 300 million dollars

The Cézanne painting bought by the Qatari royal family was at the top of the ranking for three years, until the sale of When are you getting married?, by Paul Gauguin. This work had been for the last decades in the Kunstmuseum Basel and belonged to Rudolf Staechelin, a man linked to Sotheby's auction house. Who bought it? Rumors had it that the acquisition came from Qatar. Another jewel for the royal family?

2. The Exchange, by Willem de Kooning, for $300 million

Gauguin's work lasted only one year as the most expensive in history. Remember the art collector we told you about earlier who bought two works worth $500 million in one fell swoop? Well, here is the remaining 300 million. Kenneth Griffin paid this unimaginable figure for The Exchange by Dutch painter Willem de Kooning. To this day, it is the most expensive contemporary artwork ever sold..

1. Salvator Mundi, by Leonardo da Vinci, for 450 million dollars

It happened in 2017 and it's hard to think that anything will top it. We return to the royal families, but in this case to that of Saudi Arabia. It was the crown prince, Mohamed Bin Salman, who got his hands on this painting breaking all records in the history of art auctions. The problem? Only a few years later, several investigations confirmed that this painting came out of Da Vinci's studio but that the very famous author contributed minimally to its creation.

Impressive figures, right?

Of course, as you can see, there is no female work among these paintings, something that, unfortunately, does not surprise us, due to the invisibilization of women in the history of art. How long will it take for a female painter to appear on lists of this kind?

We leave you more links so you can continue to delve into art and everything that surrounds it:

- Online Fine Arts courses
- 10 Black Artists Who Changed Art History
- 20 Artworks That Inspired Famous Movie Scenes