Another day, another $100 million or more spent on art at the top auction houses.
First, last week, there was the sale of Francis Bacon's 1969 "Three Studies of Lucien Freud," which sold for $142.4 million, the most expensive painting ever sold at auction, after a war among seven bidders at Christie's in New York.
That was followed a day later on Wednesday by the news that an unnamed collector had spent $104.5 million for an Andy Warhol painting auctioned by Sotheby's. The 1963 artwork, "Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster)," is just as grisly as it sounds. It was the last of four double-paneled paintings depicting car wrecks that Warhol painted the year John F. Kennedy was assassinated. The others are in museums.
The same auction featured several works owned by Steven A. Cohen, head of the troubled SAC Capital and vaunted art collector, that fetched more than $77 million in total, leading CNBC's John Carney to quip, "If Cohen thinks this is a good time to sell, who on earth would want to buy?"
Apparently, plenty of people. (Cohen bought two of the pieces on this list.)
The reasons people pay so much for art are many, from emotional appeal to vanity. In the end, an artwork can be a good investment. That Warhol painting fetched at least 25% more than the pre-auction estimate.
(For your art-owning clients, see Kathleen Tierney's blog on how to protect your art.)
Check out the 20 Most Expensive Paintings in the World listed from "cheapest" to highest price, adjusted for inflation.
20. Massacre of the Innocents (Peter Paul Rubens, 1611)
Price Adjusted for Inflation (actual price): $99.7 million ($76.7 million)
Sale Date: July 2, 2002
Seller: Anonymous Austrian family
Buyer: Kenneth Thomson
19. Dora Maar au Chat (Picasso, 1941)
Price Adjusted for Inflation (actual price): $100.1 million ($95.2 million)
Sale Date: May 3, 2006
Seller: Gidwitz family
Buyer: Boris Ivanshvili
18. Adele Bloch-Bauer II (Gustav Klimt, 1912)
Price Adjusted for Inflation (actual price and year sold): $102 million ($87.9 million)
Sale Date: Nov. 2, 2006
Seller: Maria Altmann
Buyer: Anonymous
17. Portrait de l'artiste sans barbe (Vincent van Gogh, 1889)
Price Adjusted for Inflation (actual price): $102.1 million ($71.5 million)
Sale Date: Nov. 19, 1998
Seller: Heirs of Jacque Koerfer
Buyer: Anonymous
16. Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster) (Andy Warhol, 1963)
Price Adjusted for Inflation (actual price): $104.5 million
Sale Date: Nov. 13, 2013
Seller: Anonymous
Buyer: Anonymous
15. Eight Elvises (Andy Warhol, 1963)
Price Adjusted for Inflation (actual price): $108.1 million ($100 million)
Sale Date: October 2008
Seller: Annibale Berlingieri
Buyer: Anonymous
14. Irises (Vincent van Gogh, 1889)
Price Adjusted for Inflation (actual price): $109.4 million ($53.9 million)
Sale Date: Nov. 11, 1987
Seller: Son of Joan Whitney Payson
Buyer: Alan Bond
13. Portrait of Joseph Roulin (Vincent van Gogh, 1889)
Price Adjusted for Inflation (actual price): $111 million ($58 million and exchange of other works)
Sale Date: Aug. 1, 1989
Seller: Private collection, Zurich, Switzerland
Buyer: Museum of Modern Art, New York
12. Nude, Green Leaves and Bust (Picasso, 1932)
Price Adjusted for Inflation (actual price): $114.3 million ($106.5 million)
Sale Date: May 4, 2010
Seller: Frances Lasker Brody estate
Buyer: Anonymous
11. Flag (Jasper Johns, 1954)
Price Adjusted for Inflation (actual price): $118.3 million ($110 million)
Sale Date: March 2010
Seller: Jean-Christophe Castelli
Buyer: Steven A. Cohen
10. The Scream (Edward Munch, 1895)
Price Adjusted for Inflation (actual price): $122.2 million ($119.9 million)
Sale Date: May 2, 2012
Seller: Petter Olsen
Buyer: Leon Black
9. Garcon al a Pipe (Picasso, 1905)
Price Adjusted for Inflation (actual price): $126 million ($104.2 million)
Sale Date: May 4, 2004
Seller: Greentree Foundation (Whitney family)
Buyer: Barilla Group
8. Bal du Moulin de la Galette (Renoir, 1876)
Price Adjusted for Inflation (actual price): $141.5 million ($78.1 million)
Sale Date: May 17, 1990
Seller: Betsey Whitney
Buyer: Ryoei Saito
7. Three Studies of Lucien Freud (Francis Bacon, 1969)
Price Adjusted for Inflation (actual price): $142.4 million
Sale Date: Nov. 12, 2013
Seller: Anonymous
Buyer: William Acquavella for client (unconfirmed)
6. Portrait of Dr. Gachet (Vincent van Gogh, 1890)
Price Adjusted for Inflation (actual price): $149.5 million ($82.5 million)
Sale Date: May 15, 1990
Seller: Siegfried Kramarsky family
Buyer: Ryoei Saito
5. Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I (Gustav Klimt, 1907)
Price Adjusted for Inflation (actual price): $155.8 million ($135 million)
Sale Date: June 18, 2006
Seller: Maria Altmann
Buyer: Ronald Lauder, Neue Galerie
4. Le Reve (Picasso, 1932)
Price Adjusted for Inflation (actual price): $155.9 million ($155.5 million)
Sale Date: March 26, 2013
Seller: Steve Wynn
Buyer: Steven A. Cohen
3. Woman III (William de Kooning, 1953)
Price Adjusted for Inflation (actual price): $159.8 million ($137.5 million)
Sale Date: Nov. 18, 2006
Seller: David Geffen
Buyer: Steven A. Cohen
2. No. 5, 1948 (Jackson Pollack, 1948)
Price Adjusted for Inflation (actual price): $162.7 million ($140 million)
Sale Date: Nov. 2, 2006
Seller: David Geffen
Buyer: David Martinez
1. The Card Players (Paul Cezanne, 1892-3)
Price Adjusted for Inflation (actual price): $269.4 million ($259 million)
Sale Date: April 2011
Seller: George Embiricos
Buyer: Royal family of Qatar
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Check out these Top 10 lists on ThinkAdvisor:
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