Works of art are coveted collector's items for art lovers and investors. Paintings by well-known artists such as Da Vinci or Picasso achieve unbelievable sums in the millions. Here are the ten most valuable works of art in the world.&nbsp;

As of May 2022, <a href="https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/151038/umfrage/teuerste-kunstwerke-bei-kunstauktionen/" title="Statista Ltd" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Statista GmbH</a> published a list of the most expensive works of art by selling price worldwide. The immensely high sums are usually achieved at auctions in the leading auction houses such as <a href="https://www.christies.com/" title="Christies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Christie's</a> or <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/" title="Sotheby's" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sotheby's</a> . Such auctions officially confirm the sales prices and always cause great amazement.
 But why are such high prices paid for old<a href="https://www.lofficielibiza.com/art/follow-dau-listen-thuat-phat-hien-buc-tranh-chua-tung-thary-cua-vincent-van-gogh" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> paintings</a> at all? In general, the price of art is difficult to determine. The more famous the artist and the painting, the higher the selling price. Demand drives up the value. For those interested in buying, the work of art serves primarily as a good 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:

Place 10: Claude Monet - &quot;Meules (Haystacks)&quot; 1890/91: 110.7 million US dollars (103.5 million euros)

Painting "Meules" - Claude Monet

In 2019, the painting by the impressionist Claude Monet reached a record price of 110.7 million dollars at auction at Sotheby's. For a total of eight minutes, a total of seven bidders in <a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City" title="new York" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New York</a> fought a real bidding war for the masterpiece until an anonymous bidder who was present finally won the bid. Before the auction, the auction house valued the work of art at just $55 million. 33 years earlier, the painting &ldquo;Meules&rdquo; was sold for $2.53 million at its last auction. The painting shows a haystack in the sun and is the artist's most valuable painting.

Claude Monet

<h4 style="text-align: justify;">Claude Monet (1840-1926)</h4>
<a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Monet" title="Claude Monet" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Claude Monet</a> was a French painter who was already known for his caricatures at school. Later he developed a passion for painting in nature. He studied at the <a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acad%C3%A9mie_Suisse" title="Academy Suisse" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Acad&eacute;mie Suisse</a> art academy in Paris, where he founded an artist community together with the artists Pissarro, Bazille, Renoir and Sisley, which is now considered the cornerstone of Impressionism .
For a long time, his profits from art were rather modest, until he presented his works in a solo exhibition in London in 1883 for the first time. In the same year he bought a house in <a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giverny" title="Giverny" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Giverny</a> near Paris and lived there until his death on December 6, 1926. Despite several serious illnesses and impaired vision, he painted to the end of his life and maintained his Impressionist style.

9th place: Pablo Picasso - &quot;Fillette à la Corbeille Fleurie&quot; 1905: $115 million (€107.5 million)

Pablo Picasso - "Fillette a la Corbeille Fleurie"

<a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pablo_Picasso" title="Pablo Picasso" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pablo Picasso's</a> oil painting Young Girl with a Basket of Flowers sold for a whopping $115 million at a Christie's auction in New York in 2018. The painting comes from the collection of Peggy and <a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Rockefeller" title="David Rockefeller" target="_blank" rel="noopener">David Rockefeller</a> and was sold at auction for 15 million dollars over the estimated value. Picasso painted the painting after returning to Paris from Holland. It shows a naked young girl with black hair and a basket of flowers.

Pablo Picasso with cat

<h4 style="text-align: justify;">Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)</h4>
 Picasso was a Spanish painter and sculptor. He is considered one of the most important artists of the 20th century and, together with <a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_Braque" title="George Braques" target="_blank" rel="noopener">George Braques</a> , the founder of <a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kubismus" title="cubism" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cubism</a> . The son of a painter and drawing teacher, he began painting at the tender age of seven under his father's tutelage. He later studied painting at the <a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_Academia_de_Bellas_Artes_de_San_Fernando" title="Academy of San Fernando" target="_blank" rel="noopener">San Fernando Academy</a> in Madrid. During his lifetime, Picasso created more than 15,000 paintings, 3,200 ceramics, 7,000 drawings, 1,200 sculptures and 20,000 prints.

8th place: Edvard Munch - The Scream 1895: $119.9 million (€112.1 million)

Edvard Munch - "The Scream"

Edvard Munch - "The Scream" 1895: $119.9 million (&euro;112.1 million) In 2012, Lot No. 20 of the legendary painting &ldquo;The Scream&rdquo; by <a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edvard_Munch" title="Edcard Munch" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Edvard Munch</a> was sold at Sotheby's in New York for $119.9 million. The painting's auction lasted 13 minutes and started at $40 million. An anonymous bidder was awarded the contract over the phone. The previous owner of the artwork was also present at the auction. Petter Olsen had won the painting in an inheritance dispute with his father, who used to be Edvard Munch's neighbor. After the rousing auction, Olsen gave another message: for him, the painting shows the moment when people become aware of their terrible impact on the environment .

Edward Munch

<h4 style="text-align: justify;">Edward Munch (1863-1994)</h4>
 Munch was a Norwegian painter and printmaker. He was famous for his expressive style and his mixture of symbolism and art nouveau. During his childhood he had to cope with the deaths of his mother and sister, who both died of <a href="https://www.sozialministerium.at/Themen/Gesundheit/Uebertragbare-Krankheiten/Infektionskrankheiten-A-Z/Tuberkulose.html" title="tuberculosis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tuberculosis</a> nine months apart. His father urged him to study engineering. In 1881, Munch dropped out of college and decided to devote his life to art. Munch suffered from depression and agoraphobia. He often had <a href="https://www.neurologen-und-psychiater-im-netz.org/psychiatrie-psychosomatik-psychotherapie/stoerungen-erkrankungen/psychosen/krankheitsbild/" title="paranoia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">paranoia</a> and suicidal thoughts. He also tortured his body with alcohol and drug abuse. An eye disease in 1930 left him partially blind, which is why he stopped painting for a few years. The artist expressed his emotional world in his pictures . In his masterpiece The Scream, Munch worked through his anxiety attack during an evening walk where he thought he heard a scream in nature.

7th place: Qi Baishi - &quot;Twelve Landscapes Screens&quot; 1926: $140.8 million (€131.7 million)

Qi Baishi - "Twelve Landscapes Screens"

The painting was sold by auction house <a href="https://en.polypm.com.cn/" title="Beijing Poly International Auction" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Beijing Poly International Auction</a> in 2017 and is the most expensive Chinese painting sold at auction worldwide. It was only possible to bid by telephone. Still, the bidding process was stormy and passionate. The identity of the bidder with the award remained anonymous.

Qi Baishi

<h4 style="text-align: justify;">Qi Baishi (1864-1957)</h4>
 He was an important artist of the 20th century and was honoured with numerous awards in his native China. As a son, he lived in modest circumstances and was a carpenter and wood carver. He only became interested in painting at the age of 20. Characteristic of <a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qi_Baishi" title="Qi Baishi" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Baishi</a> are simple, linear structures and powerful, skillful brushstrokes . Even after his unique breakthrough, he remained the simple, down-to-earth man he was before his artistic career. The eye for small, unnoticed details in everyday life shaped Baishi's art significantly.

Rank 6: Francis Bacon - &quot;Three Studies of Lucian Freud&quot; 1969: $142.4 million (€133.2 million)

Francis Bacon - "Three Studies of Lucian Freud"

Auctioned at <a href="https://www.lofficiel.at/fashion/christies-auktion-versteigerung-einer-haute-couture-garderobe" title="Christie's auction house" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Christie's auction house</a> in New York in 2013, the painting features British painter <a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucian_Freud" title="Lucian Freud" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lucian Freud</a> . This was the grandson of the psychoanalyst <a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigmund_Freud" title="Sigmund Freud" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sigmund Freud</a> 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 New York dealer Acquavella Galleries Inc., who bought the masterpiece on behalf of a customer, was awarded the contract.

Francis Bacon

<h4 style="text-align: justify;">Francis Bacon (1909-1992)</h4>
 Born in Dublin, <a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Bacon_(Maler)" title="Francis Bacon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Francis Bacon</a> was an interior decorator before taking up painting. He was known to be a hedonist and was addicted to gambling for some time. It was 24 years before he had his big breakthrough with the artwork &ldquo;Three Studies for Figures at the Foot of a Crucifixion&rdquo;. The artist primarily chose motifs such as deformed bodies, depictions of the crucifixion, portraits of his closest friends and the pope. He often concentrated on one motif over a long period of time and used it to create triptychs or diptychs. When his lover George Dyer committed suicide in 1971, his paintings became increasingly somber and more death-centred.

5th place: Amedeo Modigliani - &quot;Nu couché (sur le côté gauche)&quot; 1917: $157.2 million (€147 million)

Amedeo Modigliani - "Nu couché (sur le côté gauche)"

In 2018, the painting "Reclining Nude (on the left)" was auctioned at <a href="https://www.lofficiel.at/fashion/der-letzte-akt-karl-lagerfelds-sammlung-wird-bei-sotheby-s-koeln-versteigert" title="Sotheby's" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sotheby's</a> in New York, making it the most expensive work of art ever sold at Sotheby's. It was last sold at Christie's auction house in 2003 for just $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 picture. Modigliani liked to paint nudes, which, however, were notorious for being scandalous at the time.

Amedeo Modigliani

<h4 style="text-align: justify;">Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920)</h4>
 <a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amedeo_Modigliani" title="Amedeo Modigliani" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Modigliani</a> was an Italian painter, sculptor and draftsman. In 1902 he attended the art academies in Venice and Florence and led a life in which alcohol and drugs were heavily present. He then moved to Paris, where he met great painters such as Picasso, Kees van Dongen and Juan Gris . His art was influenced by cubism, his subjects mainly by human figures. The artist died of tuberculosis at the age of 35.

4th place: Amedeo Modigliani - &quot;Nu couché&quot; 1917: $170.4 million (€159.3 million)

Amedeo Modigliani - "Now couché"

An even higher auction result was achieved by Modigliani's painting "Reclining Nude". In 2015, it sold for a whopping $170.4 million at a Christie's auction. The painting shows a stark naked woman with a sensual look. The buyer of the artwork is reportedly Chinese art collector couple Liu Yiqian and Wang Wei . Yiqian managed to rise from high school dropout and taxi driver to successful businessman and investor.
The billionaires have also had their <a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Museum" title="Long Museum" target="_blank" rel="noopener">own museum</a> since 2012, which mainly houses traditional Chinese art. This collection is now further enriched with Modigliani's paintings. The seller of the work of art is said to have been the historian Laura Mattioli Rossi. She is the daughter of the renowned collector Gianni Mattioli. The fact that the painting was in the family's possession for a full six decades probably also contributed to the enormous increase in value.

Place 3: Pablo Picasso - &quot;Les femmes d&#39;Alger&quot; 1955: $179.4 million (€167.7 million)

Pablo Picasso - "Les Femmes d'Alger"

In 2015, the famous oil painting by Picasso was auctioned at Christie's in New York for a whopping 179.4 million dollars. The painting is one of 15 variations inspired by the work of the same name by <a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eug%C3%A8ne_Delacroix" title="Eugene Delacroix" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Eug&egrave;ne Delacroix</a> (1834). The "O" version carries Picasso's classic abstract style and depicts four busty women in bright colours. The work was created in honor of his friend and fellow painter Henri Matisse, who had died shortly before. The new owner is said to be Mr. <a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamad_ibn_Dschasim_ibn_Dschabr_Al_Thani" title="Hamad ibn Jasim ibn Jabr Al Thani" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hamad ibn Jasim ibn Jabr Al Thani</a> , the former Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Qatar .

Place 2: Andy Warhol - &quot;Shot Sage Blue Marilyn&quot; 1964: $195 million (€182.3 million)

Andy Warhol - "Shot Sage Blue Marilyn"

The iconic portrait of <a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marilyn_Monroe" title="Marilyn Monroe" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Marilyn Monroe</a> fetched a whopping $195 million at a Christie's auction in New York. Andy Warhol's screenprint went to art dealer Larry Gagosian after a four-minute bidding war. It is thus the most expensive work of art of the 20th century and one of the five portraits of Marilyn in different color combinations.
Shortly after completing the first four portraits, performance artist Dorothy Podber entered Warhol's studio The Factory and shot the four Marilyns in the forehead with a revolver . Thus, the series turned into "Shot Marilyn". The only undamaged portrait is the fifth picture "Turquoise Marilyn". The damage was repaired and painted over. If you look closely, you can still see the bullet hole.
Shot Sage Blue Marilyn came from the private collection of the late art dealer siblings Thomas and Doris Ammann, who had previously purchased the painting from Galerie Gagosian. The portraits fetch astonishing sums: "Shot Orange Marilyn" was also purchased for $200 million by hedge fund manager Kenneth C. Griffin.

Andy Warhol

<h4 style="text-align: justify;">Andy Warhol (1928-1987)</h4>
 <a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Warhol" title="Andy Warhol" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Andy Warhol</a> was an American artist who revolutionized pop art. He was born into a poor, rural family and contracted the disease " <a href="https://deximed.de/home/klinische-themen/neurologie/patienteninformationen/bewegungsstoerungen/chorea-minor" title="chorea minor" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Minor Chorea</a> " at the age of eight. The pigmentation disorder was the cause of his extremely light skin and hair . He was therefore mistaken for an albino to distract from his illness with comics and drawing, which led to his passion for art.
He completed his graphics studies in painting and design. In the spirit of art, he shot films with naked people in his studio. This form of art met with a great deal of opposition, until in 1986 the American Valerie Solanas even attempted to assassinate the artist . He barely survived the gunshot wounds and then withdrew a little more. In 1987 Warhol died under mysterious circumstances during an operation in a New York hospital.

1st place: Leonardo Da Vinci - &quot;Salvator Mundi&quot; around 1500: $450.3 million (€421 million)

Leonardo da Vinci - "Salvator Mundi"

By far the most expensive painting in the world was auctioned off at Christie's in 2017 within 19 minutes and comes from the great artist <a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci" title="Leonardo da Vinci" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Leonardo da Vinci</a> . It was created around 1500 and shows an oil-painted portrait of Jesus Christ on a 65.7 x 45.7 cm walnut panel. The spectacular sum of $450.3 million set a world record.
The most expensive work of art in history has come a long way : according to Christie's, it may have been made by King Louis XII. commissioned by France and his wife Anne de Bretagne. There follows a long list of owners through inheritance, donations and sales to royal families and princedoms. In 1958 it was offered to the auction house Sotheby's, who sold it for just $125. The painting disappeared from the scene until 2005, when art dealers Alexander Parish and Robert Simon bought it for $1,175 at a small New Orleans auction house.
Dianne Modestini restored the masterpiece for years and stripped it of overpainting. On her <a href="salvatormundirevisited.com" title="salvatormundirevisited.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">website</a> she records the various stages of her work and publishes detailed studies, techniques and the history of the masterpiece. In 2013, Sotheby's auctioned off the &ldquo;last Da Vinci&rdquo; to Geneva dealer Yves Bouvier for $80 million.
Shortly thereafter, it was sold to Russian oligarch Dmitry Rybolovlev for $127.5 million. He was the last owner before the unbelievable record auction took place. The Saudi Crown Prince <a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_bin_Salman" title="Mohammed bin Salman" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mohammed bin Salman</a> paid the proud sum of 450.3 million dollars and is therefore the current owner of the Salvator Mundi.

<h5 style="text-align: justify;">Where is Salvator Mundi?</h5>
Two years later the painting was to be exhibited in the Louvre in Paris in a jubilee exhibition on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of Leonardo Da Vinci's death. But it did not get to that. After extensive research, experts at the Louvre agreed that the work of art was not created solely by Da Vinci's hands . At best, he contributed to it.
The new owner would have none of it and insisted that his original Da Vinci be 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 got involved. The painting did not make it to the exhibition. The current location is also unknown. It was last seen on the Saudi Crown Prince's yacht.
There is much speculation and myth surrounding Leonardo Da Vinci's Salvator Mundi. In the documentary "The Last Leonardo - The Most Expensive Work of Art in the World", the journalist and director Antoine Vitkin goes in search of answers and follows the trail of the painting from 2005.

Leonardo da Vinci

<h4 style="text-align: justify;">Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)</h4>
 The artist, whose real name was Lionardo di ser Piero, was born on April 15, 1452 near the Tuscan municipality of Vinci. Leonardo learned his trade from around 1466 to 1472 with 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 Sforza court in Milan as a painter, sculptor, architect and engineer. Among other things, he produced his world-famous work &ldquo;The Last Supper&rdquo; 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 interested in music and science . Through his extraordinarily diverse talents, he gained a reputation as a universal genius. Researchers discovered notes and sketches of gravity experiments in Da Vinci's scripts. The artist dealt with gravity more than 500 years ago and even tried to calculate the gravitational constant. Amazing: He was 97% correct with his calculations ! Even then, Leonardo recognized the connection between gravity and acceleration. The artist was way ahead of his time with his ideas.

Two paintings made it into the top 10 list at the end of 2022

On November 9, 2022, two paintings were auctioned off at Christie's, which will probably displace the last two places in the next publication by Statista GmbH.
Sixth place will go to " <a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Georges_Seurat_-_Les_Poseuses.jpg" title="Les Poseuses" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Les Poseuses</a> " by French painter and draftsman Georges-Pierre Seurat. It was sold to an heir of <a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Allen" title="Paul Allen" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Paul Allen</a> for $149.2 million.
That same evening, this heir acquired what would become number 9: " <a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montagne_Sainte-Victoire" title="Mont Sainte Victoire" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mont Sainte-Victoire</a> " by French painter Paul C&eacute;zanne. He paid another mere $137.8 million for this work of art.

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

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