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Ranked: The Most Expensive Artworks Sold at an Auction
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Key Takeaways
- Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi leads the list, selling for a record-breaking $450 million.
- The only sculpture among the top 20 is Alberto Giacometti’s Pointing Man, which fetched $141.3 million.
- Gustav Klimt’s Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer sold in 2025 for $236.4 million, making it the most expensive modern artwork ever auctioned.
Every year, art collectors and institutions spend hundreds of millions at auctions to acquire rare masterpieces. These high-profile sales reflect not just the cultural importance of the works, but also the powerful role of art as a symbol of status, legacy, and financial investment.
The dataset below ranks the top 20 most expensive artworks ever sold at auction, using figures from ARTnews and compiled visually by Julie Peasley.
Here’s the full ranking of the top-selling artworks at auction:
| Rank | Artwork | Artist | Amount sold for ($USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Salvator Mundi | Leonardo da Vinci | 450,300,000 |
| 2 | Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer | Gustav Klimt | 236,400,000 |
| 3 | Shot Sage Blue Marilyn | Andy Warhol | 195,000,000 |
| 4 | Women of Algiers (Version ‘O’) | Pablo Picasso | 179,400,000 |
| 5 | Reclining Nude | Amedeo Modigliani | 170,400,000 |
| 6 | Reclining Nude (on Her Left Side) | Amedeo Modigliani | 157,200,000 |
| 7 | Models (Small Version) | Georges Seurat | 149,200,000 |
| 8 | Three Studies of Lucian Freud | Francis Bacon | 142,400,000 |
| 9 | Pointing Man | Alberto Giacometti | 141,300,000 |
| 10 | Twelve Screens of Landscapes | Qi Baishi | 140,800,000 |
| 11 | Woman with a Watch | Pablo Picasso | 139,300,000 |
| 12 | Mont Sainte-Victoire | Paul Cezanne | 137,700,000 |
| 13 | Empire of Light | Rene Magritte | 121,160,000 |
| 14 | The Scream | Edvard Munch | 119,900,000 |
| 15 | Orchard with Cypresses | Vincent van Gogh | 117,620,000 |
| 16 | Young Girl with a Flower Basket | Pablo Picasso | 115,000,000 |
| 17 | Meules | Claude Monet | 110,700,000 |
| 18 | Untitled (1982 Skull) | Jean-Michel Basquiat | 110,500,000 |
| 19 | Lady with a Fan | Gustav Klimt | 108,400,000 |
| 20 | Nude, Green Leaves and Bust | Pablo Picasso | 106,500,000 |
Among the top entries, a few highlights stand out: da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi towers above the rest with a $450 million sale price. Klimt’s 1914 portrait recently surpassed $236 million at Sotheby’s in 2025. Meanwhile, three paintings by Picasso appear in the top 20, underlining his continued dominance in the art world.
Why Are These Artworks So Expensive?
The sky-high prices of auctioned art often boil down to a mix of scarcity, provenance, cultural impact, and artist reputation. Fame begets fame as buyers pay a premium for historically significant works or pieces previously held in prestigious collections.
High-net-worth individuals often see fine art not just as a passion purchase but also as a long-term investment and a status symbol. These dynamics help explain why the most prized works, such as those by Klimt, Warhol, or Monet, reach nine-digit figures.
Why Some Artworks Are Auctioned, and Others Are Not
While auction houses like Sotheby’s, Christie’s, and Phillips attract headlines with record-breaking sales, not all valuable artworks are sold this way. Many are sold privately through dealers or art brokers, often to maintain discretion or avoid auction fees.
In recent auctions, there’s been a noticeable uptick in modern and contemporary works, such as Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol, reflecting shifting tastes in the collector community.
Paintings vs. Other Mediums
Out of the top 20 most expensive artworks, only Giacometti’s Pointing Man is a sculpture. This reflects a broader dynamic highlighted in our previous piece on best-selling visual art mediums: paintings consistently command higher prices than other formats.
Factors such as display ease, historical tradition, and broad aesthetic appeal contribute to painting’s enduring dominance in the market.
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