The 16 Most Expensive Artworks Ever Sold at Auction (Updated 2026)
A comprehensive list of the 16 most expensive artworks ever sold at auction, updated as of May 2026. The list is led by Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi ($450.3 million, 2017), followed by Gustav Klimt's Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer ($236.4 million, 2025), Andy Warhol's Shot Sage Blue Marilyn ($195 million, 2022), Jackson Pollock's Number 7A, 1948 ($181.2 million, 2026), Pablo Picasso's Women of Algiers (Version 'O') ($179.4 million, 2015), Amedeo Modigliani's Nu couché ($170.4 million, 2015) and Reclining Nude (on Her Left Side) ($157.2 million, 2018), Georges Seurat's Models (Small Version) ($149 million, 2022), Francis Bacon's Three Studies of Lucian Freud ($142.4 million, 2013), Alberto Giacometti's Pointing Man ($141.3 million, 2015), Qi Baishi's Twelve Screens of Landscapes ($140.8 million, 2017), Pablo Picasso's Woman with a Watch ($139.3 million, 2023), Paul Cézanne's Mont Sainte-Victoire ($137.7 million, 2022), René Magritte's Empire of Light ($121 million, 2024), Edvard Munch's The Scream ($119.9 million, 2012), and Vincent van Gogh's Orchard with Cypresses ($117 million, 2022). The article discusses the significance of these sales, the provenance of each work, and the broader implications for the art market, noting that the real value of art lies beyond its price tag.
Key facts
- Salvator Mundi by Leonardo da Vinci sold for $450.3 million at Christie's New York in November 2017.
- Gustav Klimt's Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer sold for $236.4 million at Sotheby's in November 2025.
- Andy Warhol's Shot Sage Blue Marilyn sold for $195 million at Christie's New York in May 2022.
- Jackson Pollock's Number 7A, 1948 sold for $181.2 million at Christie's New York in May 2026.
- Pablo Picasso's Women of Algiers (Version 'O') sold for $179.4 million at Christie's New York in May 2015.
- Amedeo Modigliani's Nu couché sold for $170.4 million at Christie's New York in November 2015.
- Qi Baishi's Twelve Screens of Landscapes sold for $140.8 million at Poly International Auction in Beijing in December 2017.
- The article was first published on November 19, 2025 and last updated on May 19, 2026.
Entities
Artists
- Leonardo da Vinci
- Gustav Klimt
- Andy Warhol
- Jackson Pollock
- Pablo Picasso
- Amedeo Modigliani
- Georges Seurat
- Francis Bacon
- Alberto Giacometti
- Qi Baishi
- Paul Cézanne
- René Magritte
- Edvard Munch
- Vincent van Gogh
- Lucian Freud
- Marie-Thérèse Walter
- Eugène Delacroix
- Dorothy Podber
- Marilyn Monroe
- George Braque
- Willem de Kooning
- Gustave Courbet
- Balthus
- Roy Lichtenstein
- Dianne Modestini
- Patti Smith
- Leonardo DiCaprio
- David Shapiro
- Petter Olsen
- Thomas Olsen
- Leon Black
- Mica Ertegun
- Alex Rotter
- Emily Fisher Landau
- Brooke Lampley
- Sheldon Solow
- Pylkkänen
- Larry Gagosian
- Thomas Ammann
- Doris Ammann
- Leonard A. Lauder
- David Galperin
- Julian Dawes
- Mohammed Bin Salman
- Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani
- Liu Yiqian
- Simon Shaw
- Helena Newman
- Berthe Weill
- John Hay Whitney
- John Quinn
- Victor Ganz
- Sally Ganz
- Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler
- Loic Gouzer
- Brett Gorvy
- A. Alfred Taubman
- S. I. Newhouse
- Xiuyi Guo
- Wang Zuanxu
- Leonardo Da Vinci
- Claude Monet
- Jean-Michel Basquiat
- Mark Rothko
- Piet Mondrian
Institutions
- Christie's
- Sotheby's
- Poly International Auction Co., Ltd.
- Museum of Modern Art
- Tate
- Portland Art Museum
- Chongqing Museum
- Pace Gallery
- Galerie Beyeler
- Acquavella Galleries
- Wall Street Journal
- Art in America
- ARTnews
- Microsoft
- Sotheby's London
- Christie's New York
- Sotheby's New York
- Beijing Poly Auction
Locations
- New York
- United States
- London
- United Kingdom
- Beijing
- China
- Paris
- France
- Arles
- Switzerland
- Riyadh
- Saudi Arabia
- Algeria
- Norway
- Qatar
- Vienna
- Normandy