Artprice and its CEO thierry Ehrmann are proud to present the 50 greatest artworks sold at auction last year. In the first half, Modern Art returned to ‘auction leader’ position with two results above the $100 million threshold.
The Art Market’s principal motivation has always been to seek the exceptional and the rare. The quest for strong sensations is an inherent characteristic of its history and its market: by acquiring an artwork, the collector also acquires an extraordinary history.
The inescapable processes of selection – indispensable to the Market’s refinement – are at the heart of the Museum Industry, the growth of which represents a genuine revolution in Art History.
Museums have in effect become the Temples of our 21st century: the number of visitors has multiplied by at least ten over the last 20 years. This represents an outstanding growth rate and it has been accompanied by the development of an entertainment market offering all manner of interactivity, derivatives, virtual visits, etc.
In sum, with the museums, the galleries and the auction houses, art has become a vast domain for leisure, discovery, education and curiosity.
Rank; Artist; Artwork; Price ($)
1; Amedeo MODIGLIANI (1884-1920); Nu couché (sur le côté gauche) (1917); 157,159,000
2; Pablo PICASSO (1881-1973); Fillette la corbeille fleurie (1905); 115,000,000
3; Edward HOPPER (1882-1967); Chop Suey (1929); 91,875,000
4; David HOCKNEY (b. 1937); Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) (1972); 90,312,500
5; Kasimir MALEVICH (1878-1935); Suprematist Composition (1916); 85,812,500
6; Claude MONET (1840-1926); Nymphéas en fleur (c.1914-1917); 84,687,500
7; Henri MATISSE (1869-1954); Odalisque couchée aux magnolias (1923); 80,750,000
8; Constantin BRANCUSI (1876-1957); La jeune fille sophistiquée (1928); 71,000,000
9; Willem DE KOONING (1904-1997); Woman as Landscape (1954-1955); 68,937,500
10; Pablo PICASSO (1881-1973); Femme au béret et à la robe quadrillée (1937); 68,702,214
11; ZAO Wou-Ki (1921-2013); Juin-Octobre 1985 (1985); 65,204,489
12; SU Shi (1037-1101); Wood and rock; 59,206,820
13; Pablo PICASSO (1881-1973); La Dormeuse (1932); 57,829,046
14; Jackson POLLOCK (1912-1956); Composition with Red Strokes (1950); 55,437,500
15; Francis BACON (1909-1992); Study for Portrait (1977); 49,812,500
16; Jean-Michel BASQUIAT (1960-1988); Flexible (1984); 45,315,000
17; PAN Tianshou (1897-1971); View From the Peek (1963); 41,392,525
18; Vincent VAN GOGH (1853-1890); Vue de l’asile et de la Chapelle Saint-Paul de Mausole (1889); 39,687,500
19; Andy WARHOL (1928-1987); Double Elvis [Ferus Type] (1963); 37,000,000
20; Pablo PICASSO (1881-1973); Le repos (1932); 36,920,500
21; Pablo PICASSO (1881-1973); Buste de femme de profil (Femme écrivant) (1932); 35,974,916
22; Mark ROTHKO (1903-1970); Untitled (Rust, Blacks on Plum) (1962); 35,712,500
23; Paul GAUGUIN (1848-1903); La Vague (1888); 35,187,500
24; Jackson POLLOCK (1912-1956); Number 32, 1949 (1949); 34,098,000
25; Georges Pierre SEURAT (1859-1891); La rade de Grandcamp (Le port de Grandcamp) (1885); 34,062,500
26; Claude MONET (1840-1926); La Gare Saint-Lazare, vue extérieure (1877); 32,960,961
27; Claude MONET (1840-1926); Extérieur de la gare Saint-Lazare, effet de soleil (1877); 32,937,500
28; Gerhard RICHTER (b. 1932); Abstraktes Bild (1987); 32,000,000
29; Juan GRIS (1887-1927); La table de musicien (1914); 31,812,500
30; Claude MONET (1840-1926); Le bassin aux nymphéas (1917-1919); 31,812,500
31; Andy WARHOL (1928-1987); Six Self Portraits (1986); 31,414,491
32; Jean-Michel BASQUIAT (1960-1988); Flesh And Spirit (1982/83); 30,711,000
33; Mark ROTHKO (1903-1970); No. 7 (Dark Over Light) (1954); 30,687,500
34; Lucian FREUD (1922-2011); Portrait on a White Cover (2002/03); 29,732,780
35; Pablo PICASSO (1881-1973); La Lampe (1931); 29,562,500
36; David HOCKNEY (b. 1937); Pacific Coast Highway and Santa Monica (1990); 28,453,000
37; Andy WARHOL (1928-1987); Most Wanted Men No. 11, John Joseph H., Jr (1964); 28,437,500
38; Ren MAGRITTE (1898-1967); Le principe du plaisir (1937); 26,830,500
39; Francis BACON (1909-1992); Figure in Movement (1972); 25,918,362
40; Jean-Michel BASQUIAT (1960-1988); Untitled (Pollo Frito) (1982); 25,701,500
41; Pablo PICASSO (1881-1973); Femme dans un fauteuil (Dora Maar) (1942); 25,539,921
42; Egon SCHIELE (1890-1918); Dämmernde stadt (Die kleine stadt ii) (1913); 24,572,500
43; Wassily KANDINSKY (1866-1944); Improvisation auf mahagoni (1910); 24,233,800
44; Richard DIEBENKORN (1922-1993); Ocean Park #126 (1984); 23,937,500
45; ZAO Wou-Ki (1921-2013); Et la terre était sans forme (1956-1957); 23,305,301
46; Wassily KANDINSKY (1866-1944); Zum thema jngstes gericht (1913); 22,879,000
47; Jeff KOONS (b. 1955); Play-Doh (1994-2014); 22,812,500
48; Pablo PICASSO (1881-1973); Le matador (1970); 22,780,091
49; Joan MIRO (1893-1983); Femme dans la nuit (1945); 22,590,000
50; Richard DIEBENKORN (1922-1993); Ocean Park #137 (1985); 22,587,500
