List of most expensive paintings

This is a list of the highest known prices paid for paintings. The earliest sale on the list (Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers by Vincent van Gogh) is from 1987, and more than tripled the previous record price, set only two years before, introducing a new era in top picture prices. The sale was also significant in that for the first time a "modern" painting (in this case from 1888) became the record holder, as opposed to the paintings of old master like Leonardo da Vinci, El Greco, Francisco Goya, and Caravaggio which had always previously held it. Since that time sales of the most valuable paintings have usually been made at auctions, though that had by no means always been the case before, and the list below still shows some "private sales", including the five most expensive. The current record price was paid for The Card Players by Paul Cezanne, which was sold for more than $250 million in 2011.

Painting Artist Year Original Price (Millions) Adjusted Price (Millions)
The Card Players Paul Cezanne 1892 $259 $273
No. 5, 1948 Jackson Pollock 1948 $140 $165
Woman III Willem de Kooning 1953 $137.5 $161.8
The Dream Picasso 1932 $155 $157
Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I Gustav Klimt 1907 $135 $157
Portrait of Dr. Gachet Vincent van Gogh 1890 $82.5 $151.4
Three Studies of Lucian Freud Francis Bacon 1969 $142.4 $144.4
Bal du moulin de la Galette Pierre-Auguste Renoir 1876 $78.1 $143.3
Boy with a Pipe Pablo Picasso 1905 $104.2 $130.6
The Scream Edvard Munch 1895 $119.9 $123.7
Flag Jasper Johns 1954 $110.0 $119.8
Portrait of Joseph Roulin Van Gogh 1889 $58 $112 ++
Dora Maar au Chat Picasso 1941 $95.2 $111.5
Irises Van Gogh 1889 $53.9 $110.7
Eight Elvises Andy Warhol 1963 $100.0 $110.0
Anna's Light Barnett Newman 1968 $105.7 $107.3
Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster) Andy Warhol 1963 $105.4 $107.2
Adele Bloch-Bauer II Gustav Klimt 1912 $87.9 $103.5
Self Portrait Vincent van Gogh 1889 $71.5 $103.4
Massacre of the Innocents Peter Paul Rubens 1611 $76.7 $101.0
Triptych, 1976 Francis Bacon 1976 $86.3 $94.4
False Start Jasper Johns 1959 $80.0 $94.0
A Wheatfield with Cypresses Vincent van Gogh 1889 $57 $93
Les Noces de Pierrette Picasso 1905 $49.3 $92.5
Yo, Picasso Pablo Picasso 1901 $47.8 $91.6
Water Lilies Claude Monet 1916 $80.7 $89.7
Turquoise Marilyn Andy Warhol 1964 $80.0 $90.0
Orange, Red, Yellow Mark Rothko 1961 $86.9 $89.6
Rideau, Cruchon et Compotier Cezanne 1894 $60.5 $80.5
Black Fire I Barnett Newman 1961 $84.2 $84.2
Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers Van Gogh 1888 $39.7 $83.9
White Center (Yellow, Pink and Lavender on Rose) Mark Rothko 1950 $72.8 $82.8
Three Studies for a Portrait of John Edwards Francis Bacon 1984 $80.8 $80.8
Diana and Actaeon Titian 1556 $70.6 $79.6
Salvator Mundi Leonardo da Vinci 1490 $75–$80 $80
The Gross Clinic Thomas Eakins 1875 $68 $78
No 1 (Royal Red and Blue) Mark Rothko 1954 $75 $77
Harlequin with Glass Pablo Picasso 1904 $40.7 $76.7
Acrobate et jeune arlequin Picasso 1905 $38.5 $78.5
Femme aux Bras Croisés Picasso 1902 $55 $74
Nude Sitting on a Divan Amedeo Modigliani 1917 $69.0 $75
Police Gazette Willem de Kooning 1955 $63.5 $75.5
Diana and Callisto Titian 1556 $71.7 $74.7
Peasant Woman Against a Background of Wheat Van Gogh 1890 $47.5 $70.5
Seated Woman in a Garden Pablo Picasso 1938 $49.5 $69.5
Eagle Standing on Pine Tree Qi Baishi 1946 $65.5 $68.5
Men in Her Life Andy Warhol 1962 $63.4 $68.8
Portrait of a Halberdier Pontormo 1537 $35.2 $67.2
Suprematist Composition Kazimir Malevich 1916 $60.0 $67.0
Untitled Mark Rothko 1952 $66 $66.2
Zhichuan Resettlement Wang Meng 1350 $62.1 $65.1