10 Most Expensive Art Auctions Over The Years
For decades, art has been a form of investment not merely for repute, but for the imagery a discerning few can interpret. In honour of celebrated painters as well as emerging artists worldwide, we bring you 10 masterpieces that were auctioned at record-breaking values over the past few years.
Femme Assise Près D’une Fenêtre’ By Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso’s 1932 portrait of his lover and muse Marie-Thérèse Walter went for a hammer price of US$103.4 million, at Christie’s live-streamed 20th-Century auction in New York in May 2021. This was the first time in nearly two years that a painting was sold at an auction for more than US$100 million. Believed to be one of his top 10 works of art, ‘Marie-Thérèse’ was also the fifth Picasso to fetch a value in nine digits.
‘Untitled (Bull on Rickshaw) By Tyeb Mehta
A classic Tyeb Mehta made a record- breaking sale at a Saffronart auction in April. ‘Untitled (Bull on Rickshaw)’ was sold for US$5.5 million, making it the second most expensive work of contemporary Indian art. The 1999 masterpiece converges some of the maestro’s key motifs and themes — the falling figure, the trussed bull and the rickshaw. While the bull conveys a sense of suffering and vulnerability as it writhes on the rickshaw, the artwork traces a metaphor of an animal in the throes of death, symbolising modern-life conflicts.
Untitled (Red) by Mark Rothko
The 1961 abstract painting in belts of scarlet, red and orange was declared ‘sold’ at US$68.8 million at Christie’s in New York last month. An unfathomable piece by Mark Rothko, this introspective work of art aims to capture the mysterious emotions that lie at the heart of the master’s artistry. A part of The Collection of Anne H Bass, this oil-on-canvas by the late American artist fetched the second-highest price in the sale, accompanied by Rothko’s No.1 (1962) that brought in nearly US$50 million.
‘Journey of Humanity’ by Sacha Jafri
Hammered at US$62 million, ‘Journey of Humanity’ by Sacha Jafri is the second most expensive painting sold at an auction by a living artist. This colossal piece holds the Guinness World Record for the largest art canvas. The painting was the result of seven months of back-breaking work by Jafri on the ballroom floor of Atlantis The Palm, Dubai. As many as 1,000 brushes and 6.3 litres of paint went into it. While the British artist intended to raise US$30 million for charities by auctioning the 1,800 sqm of canvas in sections, a French national from Dubai bid for the entire work.
Untitled Oil-On-Canvas By V.S. Gaitonde
A 1961 untitled painting by VS Gaitonde, with layers of pigment in tones of blue, fetched the highest ever price for a work of Indian art in an auction worldwide. A testament to Gaitonde’s meditativ leanings, the artwork went under the hammer for US$5.5 million, breaking the abstractionist’s own previous record from September 2020, when his 1974 oil work sold for US$4.7 million. The sale, made at the Saffron Spring Live Auction in Mumbai in March 2021, gave the Indian world of art renewed hope, as it recovered from the effects of the pandemic.
Cabanes De Bois Parmi Les Oliviers Et Cyprès By Vincent van Gogh
One of the most expensive lots sold at the Christie’s Cox Collection, Vincent van Gogh’s ‘Cabanes de bois parmi les oliviers et cyprès’ — featuring the Dutch painter’s signature landscape of olive trees and cypresses — fetched US$71.35 million, contributing to the US$154 million his trio sale brought in at the auction house in November 2021. The 1889 oil-on-canvas spent much of its lifetime hidden away in private collections. The peaceful masterpiece was inspired by the modest wooden cabins, surrounded by olive groves and protected by a host of cypresses that served as a windbreak. Van Gogh came across these in the foothills of Les Alpilles, a little after he was allowed out of an asylum.
In this Case by Jean- Michel Basquiat
Sold by Giancarlo Giammetti, the honour president of Valentino, “In this Case” by Jean- Michel Basquiat fetched US$93.1 million at Christie’s in New York last May — well above its US$50 million estimate. The 1983 painting portrays a human skull on a red canvas — presenting it as a gear-like machine, swarming with ideas — and reprises two dominant themes in the American artist’s work: anatomy and representation of African- American characters.
Everydays: the First 5000 Days By Beeple
This jaw-dropping work of art is a cumulation of 14 years of diligence by Mike Winkelmann, a digital artist better known as Beeple. Sold at a hammer price of a whopping US$69 million with its associated NFT, this magnum opus is a digital mosaic composed of images that Beeple released on the web, one a day, since May 1, 2007. The “Everydays” series was the first purely digital work of art ever offered by a major auction house, no doubt ushering in a new era in the history of art. And according to Christie’s, this sale positioned Beeple “among the top three most valuable living artists”.
‘Le Grand Canal et Santa Maria della Salute’ By Claude Monet
Depicting a picturesque view of Venice with his signature brushstrokes, Claude Monet’s famous ‘Le Grand Canal et Santa Maria della Salute’ went under the hammer at a bidding price of US$56.6 million, making it one of the most valuable paintings of Italy by the artist to ever be sold at an auction. Translating to ‘The Grand Canal and the Church of the Salute’, it’s a pivotal work that bridges the Monet’s ground-breaking Impressionist innovations and their continued evolution into a more freeform abstract approach, said Sotheby’s.
Shot Sage Blue Marilyn By Andy Warhol
At the Christie’s 20/21st Century sale week, Andy Warhol’s iconic ‘Shot Sage Blue Marilyn’ set a new record, fetching an astounding US$195 million and contributing to the jaw-dropping US$317.8 million collected in sales overall. Part of the four 40-by-40-inch silkscreens of the gorgeous starlet in flashing colours, the canvas depicts a visage of Monroe against a turquoise backdrop, painted by the late artist in 1964 from a 1954 photograph. A classic Warhol, the price tag establishes this influential piece as the most expensive 20th-Century artwork to be sold at auction.
This story has been adapted for the website from a story that was originally published in HELLO! India’s June 2022 issue. Get your hands on the latest issue right here!
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