Most Expensive Paintings Ever Sold: Top 10

Salvator Mundi heads the ranking of most expensive paintings ever sold, at $450.3 million, ahead of works by de Kooning, Paul Cézanne and Gustav Klimt.

This Finepedia guide, written in October 2026, ranks the ten highest prices ever paid for paintings, in public auctions and in private deals. Five of them have changed hands since 2015, and a Klimt portrait sold in November 2025 is the newest entry. For more on art and the places that show it, see the Finepedia guides Most Popular Artists of All Time: Top 10 and Most Visited Museums in the World: Top 10.

How We Chose These

We ranked paintings by the price paid at the time of sale, in US dollars, without adjusting for inflation. Auction prices include the buyer's fees and are exact. Private sale prices are not published officially, so we used figures widely reported by major news outlets and art-market sources, marked "about" in the list. We checked every figure against at least two sources, and each painting appears once, at its highest known price. Prices are correct as of October 2026, and Jackson Pollock's Number 7A, which sold for $181.2 million at Christie's in May 2026, just misses the cut.

The 10 Most Expensive Paintings at a Glance

1. Salvator Mundi Holds the All-Time Record

Salvator Mundi, a painting of Christ holding a crystal orb, sold for $450.3 million at a Christie's evening sale in New York in November 2017. It is credited to Leonardo da Vinci and dated to about 1500, although some experts still doubt how much of it he painted himself.

Key Facts

• Price: $450.3 million, including fees
• Sale: Christie's, New York, 15 November 2017
• Painted: about 1500, oil on walnut panel
• Earlier sale: bought in 2005 for just $1,175, before restoration

Did You Know?

The buyer's name was not given at the sale, and the painting has not been shown in public since 2017. Its price is almost double the next highest auction result for any work of art, set by a Klimt portrait in 2025.

2. De Kooning's Interchange Leads the Private Sales

Interchange, an abstract painting by Willem de Kooning from 1955, was sold privately in September 2015 for a reported $300 million. It is the highest price known for a painting that never went to auction.

Key Facts

• Price: about $300 million, reported
• Sale: private, September 2015, from the David Geffen Foundation
• Size: about 2 m by 1.75 m, oil on canvas
• First sale: 1955, for $4,000

Why It Matters

Interchange marks a turning point in de Kooning's career, when he moved from his famous paintings of women towards loose, abstract city scenes. Its sale, along with Pollock's Number 17A, made the same 2015 deal one of the largest art purchases ever.

3. Cézanne's The Card Players Sold for About $250 Million

The Card Players by Paul Cézanne, painted in the early 1890s, changed hands privately in 2011, with Qatar's ruling family reported as the buyer, for $250 million or more. It shows two men in a quiet game at a table in rural Provence.

Key Facts

• Price: about $250 million, reported
• Sale: private, 2011
• Painted: early 1890s, in Provence
• Series: one of five paintings on the same theme

Did You Know?

The other four versions of The Card Players hang in public museums: Paris has one at the Musée d'Orsay, London one at the Courtauld, New York one at the Met, and Philadelphia one at the Barnes Foundation.

4. Klimt's Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer Set a Record in 2025

Gustav Klimt's Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer, painted between 1914 and 1916, fetched $236.4 million when Sotheby's offered it in New York on 18 November 2025. It is the second-highest auction price for any work of art, behind only Salvator Mundi.

Key Facts

• Price: $236.4 million, including fees (hammer price $205 million)
• Sale: Sotheby's, New York, 18 November 2025
• Painted: 1914 to 1916
• Records: most expensive modern artwork and most expensive Klimt ever sold at auction

Why It Matters

The painting was seized by the Nazis and returned to the Lederer family in 1948. It came to auction for the first time from the collection of Leonard A. Lauder, and its price more than doubled the previous auction record for a Klimt.

5. Gauguin's Nafea Faa Ipoipo Came From Tahiti

Paul Gauguin painted Nafea Faa Ipoipo, a Tahitian title asking when will you marry, in 1892 during his first stay in Tahiti. Heirs of the Swiss collector Rudolf Staechelin agreed a private sale, in a deal reported in 2015 at close to $210 million.

Key Facts

• Price: about $210 million, reported
• Sale: private, reported in February 2015
• Painted: 1892, in Tahiti
• Earlier home: on loan to the Kunstmuseum Basel for almost 50 years

Did You Know?

The painting shows two Tahitian women, one in traditional dress and one in a Western-style gown. Early reports put the price near $300 million, but papers from a later court case pointed to about $210 million.

6. Pollock's Number 17A Is a Classic Drip Painting

Number 17A by Jackson Pollock dates from 1948, a year after he began pouring and dripping paint onto canvas laid on the floor. It was sold privately in September 2015 for a reported $200 million, in the same deal as Interchange.

Key Facts

• Price: about $200 million, reported
• Sale: private, September 2015
• Painted: 1948, oil on fibreboard
• Fame: shown in Life magazine in August 1949

Why It Matters

The 1949 Life feature asked whether Pollock was the greatest living painter in the United States and helped make him a household name. Number 17A remains one of the most celebrated examples of his drip technique.

7. Rembrandt's The Standard Bearer Went to a Museum

The Standard Bearer, a 1636 painting by Rembrandt, was bought in 2022 for 175 million euros, about $198 million at the time. Unlike most entries on this list, it was bought for a public museum.

Key Facts

• Price: 175 million euros (about $198 million)
• Sale: private, 2022, from the French branch of the Rothschild family
• Buyers: the Dutch state, the Rijksmuseum and supporting funds
• Painted: 1636

Did You Know?

The Dutch government paid 150 million euros of the price, and the Rijksmuseum and its supporters found the rest. The painting, thought to show Rembrandt himself as a flag-bearer, now hangs in Amsterdam, not far from The Night Watch.

8. Shot Sage Blue Marilyn Is the Top American Auction Sale

Shot Sage Blue Marilyn, Andy Warhol's 1964 silkscreen portrait of Marilyn Monroe, made $195 million at a Christie's sale in New York on 9 May 2022. As of October 2026 it is still the highest auction price for a work by an American artist.

Key Facts

• Price: $195 million, including fees
• Sale: Christie's, New York, 9 May 2022
• Made: 1964, silkscreen ink and acrylic on canvas
• Seller: the Thomas and Doris Ammann Foundation in Zurich

Why It Matters

Proceeds from the sale went to a foundation that supports health and education programmes for children. For three years it held the auction record for any 20th-century painting, until the Klimt portrait passed it in 2025.

9. Rothko's No. 6 Glows With Colour

Mark Rothko's No. 6, whose full title adds Violet, Green and Red, was painted in 1951 and was sold privately in 2014 for a reported $186 million. Like many of his best-known works, it is made of large soft-edged blocks of colour floating on the canvas.

Key Facts

• Price: about $186 million, reported
• Sale: private, 2014
• Painted: 1951
• Style: colour field painting

Did You Know?

The sale later became part of a long legal dispute between a collector and the dealer who arranged it, over how much the dealer had paid and charged. No colour field painting is known to have sold for more.

10. Klimt's Water Serpents II Survived a Turbulent History

Gustav Klimt's Wasserschlangen II, or Water Serpents II, was begun in 1904 and finished around 1907. It was sold privately in 2013 for a reported $183.8 million, then the highest price ever paid for a Klimt.

Key Facts

• Price: about $183.8 million, reported
• Sale: private, 2013
• Painted: 1904 to about 1907
• History: taken by the Nazis during World War II

Why It Matters

Water Serpents II shows women floating in a dreamlike, watery world, decorated with gold and patterns typical of Klimt. It was caught up in the same dealer dispute as the Rothko, which centred on the prices charged to the buyer.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who bought Salvator Mundi?

Christie's did not name the buyer at the 2017 sale. News reports later linked the purchase to Saudi Arabia, but no official owner has confirmed it publicly, and the painting has not been on public display since then.

Are these prices adjusted for inflation?

No. The list uses the price paid on the day of sale. Adjusted for inflation, the oldest sales on the list, such as The Card Players in 2011, would gain the most, but Salvator Mundi would still be first.

Conclusion

From a disputed Renaissance panel to Pop Art and abstract colour fields, the paintings on this list show how much collectors and museums will pay for rare, famous works. With the Klimt portrait in 2025 and Pollock's Number 7A in 2026, record prices are still climbing. For more on the world of art, read the Finepedia guides Most Popular Artists of All Time: Top 10 and Most Visited Museums in the World: Top 10.