DAY 149

ARTISTIC ODDITIES

Top Sellers

THE WORLD’S PRICIEST PAINTINGS

How much money would you put down for an original painting by a well-respected artist? Whatever amount you offer, chances are that it wouldn’t put a dent into the price paid for the world’s most expensive works of art.

Paintings that have sold for large amounts of money include big names like Picasso, van Gogh, Renoir—many of the artists we touch on in this book. Over the last few decades, these top sellers have sold for tens of millions of US dollars, and a handful have even been sold for more than a hundred million.

Coming in at $135 million US is Gustav Klimt’s Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I (page 332). This decadent painting contains real gold and silver; while creating it, perhaps Klimt had a sixth sense for its future value! Coming in around $137.5 million US is Willem de Kooning’s Women III. And finally, the painting that has sold for the most amount of money is Jackson Pollock’s No. 5, which sold for a whopping $140 million US.* All three of these pricey paintings were sold in 2006.

Who needs real estate or the stock market? Investing in canvas, paint, and the brushstrokes of the masters might be the safest way to go! —GRG

* Numbers refer to reports at the time of this printing. The list is subject to change as transactions occur.