The TOP-15 most expensive paintings in the world

1. The painting «When will you marry?» was painted in 1892 by the great post-impressionist French painter Paul Gauguin. This work is the most famous in the works of the painter. All of Gauguin’s works have always been successful and have cost a lot of money, but his latest work has produced a real fury in the art world. Picture «When will you get married?» was sold for 300$ million to Qatar Museums, which is in the process of buying high art for the Emirate’s museums. 

2. American artist of Dutch origin Willem de Kuning painted the painting «Interchange» in 1955. In 1989, the painting was sold for 300$ million, setting the highest price ever for a painting sold during the artist’s lifetime. Willem is considered one of the founders of abstract expressionism. The artist worked in various techniques, constantly experimenting with the material.

3. The most expensive work in the collection of the leader of abstract expressionism Jackson Pollock became the painting «Number 17A». It was purchased by American billionaire Kenneth Griffin for 200$ million. All of Pollock’s works are extraordinary. The painter never painted or stretched a canvas on a pod. He would nail a canvas to a floor or wall and start splashing aluminum paint or factory varnishes. And then, with the help of the different strokes of the rope, he drew a thick, shiny web of lines.

4. One of the best-selling and most expensive artists of the last century is thought to be Mark Rotko. He is one of the founders of the painting of the flower field. His painting №6, which he called "Violet, Green and Red", was created in 1951. It consists of large areas of color bounded by irregularities and foggy shades. The work was sold for186$ million. 

5. In 1917, Italian painter of the beginning of the 20th century Amedeo Modigliani painted a painting «Sleeping nude with arms open(Red Nude)». The painting is Expressionist in the genre nude. The canvas was sold at Christie’s auction for 170.4$ million.

6. The famous painting «Dream» was painted in the period of surrealism in 1932. The great painter Pablo Picasso painted the piece of work in just one day. The painting depicts a portrait of his beloved Maria-Theresa Walter. The bright and colorful work was sold in 2013 for 155$ million. 

7. Francis Bacon wrote the triptych «Three Studies of Lucien Freud » in 1969. The painting was painted in the period when «the relationship between Freud and Bacon reached its peak». Bacon is an English expressionist painter, master of figurative painting. His work is based on an image of the human body (distorted, geometrically framed) on an irrelevant background. The painting was sold at Christi’s auction for 142.4$ million.

8. The painting «Woman III» is part of a series of paintings about women of the famous artist Willem de Kuning. But it was this model that became Kooning’s most famous work. The painting depicts a somewhat unusual woman. On the face of the canvas, there is nothing but emptiness and random smears, but if you think about it, the portraits of Kuning can be read in depth by the artist. The painting was sold at Christié’s for 137.5$ million.

9. The painting «Scream» is considered one of the most famous paintings in the world, painted in the Expressionist style. Edward Munk wrote four versions of «Scream». There is even a theory that the painting is the fruit of the manic-depressive psychosis from which the artist suffered. With the help of wriggling lines, as if dipped in a screaming man, and a saturated range of colours, Munk passes on the hero’s sudden grief. The painting was sold by the Sotheby auction house for 119,992$ million.

10. On the surrealist picture «Nude, green leaves and bust» Pablo Picasso has intricately portrayed his beloved Marie-Therese Walter as a goddess of sex and desire, secretly from the wife - Olga Khochlova. The canvas sold for 106.5$ million in 2010.

11. The painting of Pablo Picasso «Portrait of Dora Maar» depicts the portrait of this lady. All the women Picasso loved were his museums and models. He wrote each of them with inspiration and passion. In 2006, the canvas was purchased by a mysterious Russian anonym for 95,216$ million.

12. Shortly before his death in June 1890, Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh painted a painting «Portrait of Dr Gachet». A portrait of Paul Gashe, who had been monitoring the artist’s health on the slope of his life, with a stick of digitalis (of which he was preparing a medicinal potion for the artist) was sold at Christié’s auction on 15 May 1990 for a record amount of 82.5$ million.

13. Self-knowledge is the most difficult of all cognitions. That’s what the famous painter Vincent Van Gogh thought. The artist often painted self-portraits. On the canvas «Self-portrait without beard» Van Gogh portrays himself, looking closely at his own features. Japanese businessman Ryoei Saito purchased the painting in 1990 at auction for 82.5$ million. 

14. Jasper Jones is an American artist who is considered to be a contemporary pop art artist, and who is already considered to be a great artist. His painting False Start is one of the most expensive paintings in the world and has been sold for 80$ million.

15. Venetian painter Titian painted the painting «Diana and Actaeon» in 1556-1559. The painting is part of a series of seven paintings written by Titian on mythological themes. It was part of the Bridgewater collection. The painting depicts a moment of myth when Actaeon unexpectedly catches Diana naked, provoking the wrath of the goddess. The film sold for 50$ million in 2009.