Top 24 Most Expensive Paintings in the World as of 2024

January 10, 2021

Before we reveal the most expensive art painting in the world as of 2024, it’s important to place the concept of art collection in context. The practice is perhaps older than you think and stretches back to antiquity.

Humans have valued and cherished art since time immemorial. From Indonesian cave paintings from 45,000 years ago to relatively more recent works of Egyptian and Greek craft, art has played an important role in cultural expression. 

The pharaohs of Egypt were buried with ornate gold art, while the Greeks and, eventually, the Romans constructed stunning statues of bronze and stone sculptures. The fall of Rome put paid to the art market for some time, with royalty and religious institutions commissioning art as a way of demonstrating devotion to their faith.

However, by the 14th century and the start of the Renaissance period, art collecting really took off. Wealthy merchants and families began to commission and collect work as a way to display their power and sophistication.

The rise of Protestantism and the relative decline of the Catholic Church saw many paintings dispersed into the hands of collectors. The establishment of art academies in the 17th century coincided with a remarkable rise in the quality and accessibility of art. Interestingly, in 1634, Rembrandt was paid the equivalent of about $300,000 in today’s money, making it one of the costliest paintings in the world at the time.

However, it is perhaps the Industrial Revolution that began a more modern idea of collecting paintings. Wealthy industrialists, often American, aggressively bought up classics from Europe. Furthermore, the development of public and private galleries gave the general public a taste for painted crafts and further cemented art as a collectible. 

While the most expensive paintings in the world are still out of reach of the average investor, the scene is vibrant and varied. Savvy investors can still make huge sums by buying pieces with potential. In many ways, art collection has been democratized, with different price points providing accessible ways to enter the market.

Our most expensive painting list as of 2024 also tells the story of art collection down through the ages, with some of the costliest paintings in the world changing hands multiple times to reflect the shift of power across the Western world.

The fine art pawnbroking team at New Bond Street Pawnbrokers has put together a list of the top 24 most expensive paintings and art in the world ever sold on auction as of 2024.

So, let’s dive in!

 

The Top 24 Most Expensive Paintings & Art Ever Sold as of 2024 are…

24. Bouilloire et Fruits | Paul Cézanne | (1888-1890) Sold for $59.3M (€52.5M)

Paul Cézanne’s “Bouilloire et Fruits,” which translates to “Kettle and Fruit,” is one of the most famous paintings by Cézanne, and part of that fame comes from the fact that someone stole it from a house in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, in 1978.

Twenty-one years later, authorities recovered the artwork, finding out that a Pittsburgh gun dealer had taken this most expensive art piece.

Having been shown in museums in Paris, Berlin, Johannesburg, and the Netherlands, “Bouilloire et Fruits” finally made its way to Christie’s in May of 2019, where it made almost $60 million. A worthy entry on our list of Top 17 Most Expensive Paintings in the World Ever Sold by 2024.

23. Ten Views of Lingbi Rock | Wu Bin | (c. 1610) | Sold for $77M (€68.2M)

“Ten Views of Lingbi Rock” has become some of the most expensive paintings in the world ever sold from China as of 2024. The Ming Dynasty-era painting came from a well-known collection called “The North American Ten-Views of Lingbi Rock Retreat Collection.” 

The collection also holds expensive treasures, such as the Yongzheng Imperial Blue-and-White ‘Dragon’ Tianqiuping (sold for $23M) and a gilt lacquer bronze figure of Guandi (sold for $8.7M). 

The first time the painting appeared on the auction block in 1989, it made $1.21 million, which was a record at the time for Chinese paintings. In October 2021, however, it sold for $77 million at the Poly Auction in Beijing. 

 

22. Triptych Inspired by the Oresteia of Aeschylus | Francis Bacon | (1981) | Sold for $84.5M (€74.8M)

Although far from the world’s most expensive painting ever sold as of 2024, Irish-born artist Francis Bacon’s “Triptych Inspired by the Oresteia of Aeschylus” still sold for a hefty $84.5 million from Sotheby’s in New York in June of 2020. 

Bacon based his triptych on “The Oresteia,” a trilogy of ancient Greek plays written by Aeschylus, who lived during the 6th century BC. The first painting shows the murder of King Agamemnon after his wife, Queen Clytemnestra, sacrificed their daughter to ensure a safe journey. 

The middle piece represents Agamemnon and Clytemnestra’s son, Orestes, killing his mother. The final panel depicts the Furies, who were three deities of vengeance, pursuing Orestes. 

The triptych wasn’t even the most expensive painting ever sold by Bacon. “Triptych, 1976” went for $86.3 million in 2008, while “Three Studies of Lucian Freud” sold for $142.4 million in 2013, making it the most expensive Bacon painting in the world ever sold as of 2024.

21. Buffalo II | Robert Rauschenberg | (1964) | Sold for $88.8M (€78.6M)

Becoming one of the most expensive art pieces ever sold as of 2024, Robert Rauschenberg’s “Buffalo II” uses personal photographs and magazine cut-outs to create the landscape he felt in the United States in the mid-1960s. 

Finished just after John Kennedy’s assassination, JFK’s image is one of the artwork’s largest and most recognizable images. The eight-foot-high silkscreen printing, considered a low form of art at the time, attempts to bring together the tangible and abstract to capture 1960s America. 

Coming from a similar vein as some of the most expensive abstract art ever sold, “Buffalo II” sold for a whopping $88.8 million from Christie’s in May 2019, the same month as Monet’s “Meules.” 

 

20. Meules | Claude Monet | (1890) | Sold for $110.7M (€97.9M)

Surprisingly, Claude Monet’s paintings are not usually among the most expensive paintings in the world ever sold. However, one of Monet’s works from his ‘Haystacks’ series was sold in May of 2019 from Sotheby’s for $110.7 million. 

Monet’s breathtaking haystack painting utilizes a more extensive palette than the other pieces in the series, containing brush strokes that move from each upper corner to meet seamlessly in the center of the work. 

This sale was the first time that “Meules” has gone up for auction since 1986, and this time it brought in 44 times the price it did almost four decades ago. As such, “Meules” has become Monet’s most expensive art piece ever sold, and one of the world’s most expensive paintings as of 2024. 

 

19. Femme Assise Près D’une Fenêtre (Marie-Thérèse) | Pablo Picasso | (1932) | SOLD FOR $103M (€101M)

The most expensive art piece sold in 2021 was this depiction of Picasso’s muse, painted in 1932. The only fine art painting to reach the $100 million mark at auction in 2021, this piece has changed hands a number of times before arriving at Christies in the late 2010s. 

Since its original price at auction in 1997, this piece has seen a 1400% increase in hammer price, indicating a positive trend for Picasso’s market.

18. No. 5, 1948 | Jackson Pollock | (1948) | sold for $140m (€118.8m)

Whilst the vast majority of art that has sold for hundreds of million dollars are antique pieces, there is a large quantity of modern and contemporary pieces being sold at auction that are reaching the same realms.

Jackson Pollock is an example of an abstract expressionist artist who exceeded expectations at an auction recently.

His painting ‘No. 5’ sold in May 2006 for $140 million – at the time, that was a record sale for a painting and the most expensive painting in the world ever sold, not surpassed until 2011.

Whilst response to the painting initially was underwhelming, it has since achieved critical acclaim and stands as the tenth most expensive painting in the world to have been sold at auction as of 2024. The demand for Pollock’s art is high and auction houses are crying out for sellers of Pollock’s work.

17. LES POSEUSES, ENSEMBLE (PETITE VERSION) | GEORGES SEURAT | (1886) | SOLD FOR $149.2M (€144.6M)

The Model by George Seurat is an unforgettable piece of post-impressionism. After being sold for almost $150 million in 2022, it takes its place on our most expensive painting list as of 2024.

The piece was once owned by the legendary German art collector Heinz Berggruen but found its way into the Paul Allen collection. After his death in 2018, the piece was sold by Christie’s auction house to an unidentified buyer for $149.2 million.

 

16. PORTRAIT OF ADELE BLOCH-BAUER | GUSTAV KLIMT | (1912) | SOLD FOR $150M (€144.6M)

Gustav Klimt’s portrait of Viennese socialite, patron, and friend Adele Bloch-Bauer is an incredible oil on canvas. It’s not the only portrait that Klimt painted of Bloch-Bauer. Indeed, both paintings were stolen by the Nazis during World War 2. After the war, the paintings hung in an Austrian gallery and were the subject of a protracted legal battle by the family to take them back.

In 2006, with the paintings returned to the descendants of the Bloch-Bauer family, the portrait was purchased by Oprah Winfrey for $88 million. In 2016, the painting changed hands once more, as Winfrey sold the piece to an unnamed Chinese buyer for $150 million.

 

15. LE REVÉ | PABLO PICASSO | (1932) | SOLD FOR $155M (€144.6M)

Le Rêve, which translates as The Dream, was a portrait by Pablo Picasso of his then mistress, Marie-Thérèse Walter. This early Cubist piece is notable for its bright and daring colors and abstract form. 

The painting was bought by Victor and Sally Ganz in 1941 for just $7,000. The couple held it until their death when it became one of the most expensive paintings in the world in 1997. Later, the painting found its way to casino mogul Steve Wynn, who famously damaged the painting in an accident. In 2013, Wynn sold the now-repaired piece of Stephen A. Cohen for $155 million at a private sale.

 

14. NU COUCHÉ (SUR LE CÔTÉ GAUCHE)| AMEDEO MODIGLIANI | (1917) | SOLD FOR $157.2M (€144.6M)

Not to be confused with another Modigliani painting from the same year titled Nu Couché, this painting has a longer name: Nu couché (sur le côté gauche). It’s one of the Spanish artist’s most beloved and largest works and is seen as the reinvention of the Modern nude painting.

Painting just three years before the artist’s untimely death, the piece was considered scandalous in its time. Some 100 years after the piece was made, it was sold by Sotheby’s for over $150 million. Details about the buying and selling party are scarce, though it is speculated that the seller was the Irish horse breeder John Magnier.

 

13. MASTERPIECE | ROY LICHTENSTEIN | (1962) | SOLD FOR $165M (€118.8M)

Roy Lichtenstein’s Masterpiece is another instantly recognizable piece of pop art. Painted using the Ben Day process and featuring a characteristic dialogue bubble, it was reportedly part of the artist’s first exhibition at L.A.’s Ferus Gallery. 

While the painting was displayed at many of the world’s premier galleries over the years, it was owned by the American philanthropist Agnes Gund. Indeed, Masterpiece took pride of place above the mantle of her Upper East Side apartment for many years. 

However, when Gund wanted to start the Art for Justice fund, a fund for criminal justice reform, she put the piece up for sale. Hedge Fund manager Stephen A. Cohen, the owner of the Major League Baseball Team, the New York Jets, ensured the piece stayed within New York when he paid a princely $165 million for the work, making it one of the most expensive paintings in the world to sell by auction. 

Cohen’s art collection is worth well over $1 billion. Although he is constantly buying and trading art; so, it would be no surprise to see Masterpiece on the market once more in the future.

 

12. Nu Couché | Amedeo Modigliani | (1917/18) | sold for $170.4m (€144.6m)

Arguably much more traditional than Jackson Pollock’s artwork, Nu Couché, a 1917 oil on canvas by Amedeo Modigliani, sold for auction in New York for $170 million in 2018.

Nu Couché is one of Modigliani’s most widely reproduced and exhibited paintings and is one of a series of controversial nudes painted by Modigliani whilst under the guidance of Polish dealer Léopold Zborowski.

It sold for almost six times the amount it had previously made at auction – highlighting just how much influence auction sales can have on the value of a painting, and making this painting the most expensive piece of art in the world that year.

11. Les Femmes d’Alger (“Version O”) | Pablo Picasso | (1955) | sold for $179.4m (€152.3m)

A name that doesn’t particularly need an introduction, Picasso and his artwork has been in the public eye for generations now, and quite rightly so.

Les Femmes d’Alger took on Picasso’s distinct style and was a cubist reimagining of Eugène Delacroix’s 1834 painting The Women of Algiers in their Apartment. Part of a series of paintings and drawings, ‘Version O’ sold in 2013 for a record $179.4m at auction to the former Qatari prime minister, Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani.

With bright hues, Cubist perfection, and the age-old muse, the female nude, this painting broke records at the time of its sale, making it the most expensive painting in the world that year, and one of the most expensive paintings in the world as of 2024.

It’s a firm favorite and has appeared in many of the artist’s major retrospectives. The painting was part of a 15-work series Picasso created in 1954-55, all marked with the letters A to O.

Date of sale: May 11, 2015

Final price: $179.4 million

Details of sale: Auction [Christie’s, New York]

10. Portraits of Maerten Soolmans/Oopjen Coppit | Rembrandt | (1634) | sold for $180m (€152.8m)

A pair of portraits by Rembrandt in 1634 was jointly bought by the Louvre Museum and Rijksmuseum in 2015 – for an artist record purchase price of $180m.

The paintings were produced for the occasion of the pair’s wedding in 1634. Produced and painted on separate occasions, the portraits have been kept and displayed together since they were created and have always hung side by side in gallery showings and collections.

The portraits are particularly impressive because they are full-sized and show a full-body image – very atypical of Rembrandt’s usual painting style and as a result a particularly valuable pair of portraits to be in possession of.

In preparation for a potential bidding war, the Netherlands and France bought these two rare Rembrandts together. The 17th-century paintings had rarely been seen in public, and now alternate between Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum and Paris’ Louvre.

The two portraits represent a young couple. Rembrandt was commissioned to paint them to mark their wedding in 1634.

• Date of sale: Around September 2015
• Final price: Around $180 million
• Details of the sale: Unknown – private sale

9. No. 6 (Violet, Green and Red) | Mark Rothko | (1951) | sold for $186m (€157.9m)

One of the works implicated in the 2016 Bouvier Affair, No. 6 (Violet, Green and Red) by Mark Rothko sold at auction for $186 in 2014.

Currently contained within a private collection, the oil on canvas appears unimpressive, a simple distribution of large color expanses, delineated by uneven shades of smudged color.

With abstract impressionism on the rise, the painting was sought after and invited a lot of interest but the question remains about the legitimacy of its value because of its links to the Bouvier Affair, a scandal in which pieces of artwork were given ‘fake’ values by critics as a way of ensuring that they sold for high prices.

A leader of the Abstract Expressionism movement, Rothko’s paintings are characterized by harmonized blocks of colour that celebrate simplicity.

The art piece was sold in 2014 to a Russian billionaire, Dmitry Rybolovlev, who was assisted by Singapore-based Swiss art broker Yves Bouvier, and became the top expensive painting in the world that year, and another worthy entry on our list of the top 17 most expensive paintings in the world as of 2024.

• Date of sale: August 2014
• Final price: $186 million
• Details of the sale: Private sale to Dmitry Rybolovlev via Yves Bouvier

8. SHOT SAGE BLUE MARILYN | ANDY WARHOL | (1964) | SOLD FOR $195M (€169.8M)

Shot Sage Blue Marilyn by Andy Warhol is one of the most iconic pieces of 20th-century art. It is also one of the most expensive paintings in the world. Part of a series of five silkscreen headshots, the work was produced just a few short years after the death of the Hollywood starlet in 1962. 

The picture is based on press shots for the 1953 film Niagara. Alongside Shot Sage Blue, there were four other Shot Marilyn colors: Red, Orange, Light Blue, and Turquoise. Part of the reason why Shot Sage Blue is up there with the most expensive art piece ever sold at auction is because of a fascinating story about these works.

Having completed a series of five paintings, Warhol stacked them together near the wall of The Factory. The performance artist Dorothy Podber saw the paintings and asked Warhol if she could shoot them. Believing she wanted to photograph the pieces, Warhol agreed. However, she pulled out a revolver and fired through the paintings, which is where they got the name the Shot Marilyns.

• Date of sale: August 2014
  • Final price: $186 million
  • Details of the sale: Sold by Christie’s New York to Larry Gagosian

 

7. Number 17A | Jackson Pollock | (1948) | sold for c$200m (€169.8m)

Pollock’s paintings seemingly have become incredibly sought after, with a second painting from his collection making it into one of the most expensive paintings in the world ever sold at auction as of 2024.

Differing from No. 5 in way of its colour, No. 17a exhibits a radical example of drip painting. Drip painting pieces are interesting in the sense that they appear randomly distributed but it is clear that as far as Pollock is concerned at the very least, this is definitely not the case.

Distribution lines throughout the painting clearly show his precise movements, giving definite justification for the $200m price tag the painting went for when sold in 2016.

Image credit: en.wikipedia.org

Another major player in the Abstract Expressionist movement, Jackson Pollock was an American painter with a notoriously volatile personality. During the late 40s and 50s, he became something of a celebrity for his artwork; although this only served to intensify his existing alcoholism. Like so many of his most recognizable works, Number 17A was painted during Pollock’s ‘drip period’.

One of the most expensive abstract art of its year,  the piece was purchased in conjunction with another painting on this list of the most expensive art pieces in the world. Keep reading to find out which one.

• Date of sale: Around September 2015
• Final price: ~$200 million
• Details of sale: Unknown – private sale

6. THE STANDARD BEARER | REMBRANDT | (1636) | SOLD FOR $198M (€175M)

Thanks to its February 2022 sale for $198 million, The Standard Bearer makes our most expensive painting list as of 2024. This stunning three-quarter-length self-portrait was held in Ellen de Rothschild’s Paris Collection until it was purchased by the Rembrandt Foundation with the help of the Dutch government.

The Standard Bearer is a beautifully lit oil on canvas and is considered one of the best examples of the Dutch artist’s style. 

The story of how the painting returned to the Netherlands is fascinating, too. The Netherlands’ cultural sector income was declining, and the painting was loaned to the country in 2019, spurring significant interest. A plan was hatched to return the piece.

However, France considered The Standard Bearer to be a national treasure. As such, they placed a 30-month import ban on the piece and gave the Louvre first refusal on the painting. When the famous gallery could not raise the funds, it was sold to the Netherlands in 2022. Now, it is displayed in Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum. 

• Date of sale: February 2022
  • Final price: $198 million
  • Details of the sale: Private sale to the Rijksmuseum

 

5. Wasserschlangen II (Water Serpents II) | Gustav Klimt | (1907) | SOLD FOR C.$198M (€195M)

Among the most expensive art ever sold was this oil painting by Gustav Klimt from 1907. This painting has a fascinating history, as Nazis stole it during World War II. 

Then, in 2013, it was part of a controversial sale when its owner at the time, Yves Bouvier, tricked Russian billionaire Dmitry Ryboloviev into buying the painting for 183.3 million dollars. This price was $75M over what Bouvier had paid for it and a significant profit that was seen as deceitful in the art world. 

Eventually, after being exposed for his deceits, Ryboloviev, and others he had scammed, brought lawsuits against Bouvier to dispute the sale of 38 works of art, including this painting by Klimt.

 

4. Nafea Faa Ipoipo | Paul Gauguin | (1892) | sold for $210m (€178.3m)

Post-impressionism is a popular style for collectors and Paul Gauguin’s 1892 painting ‘Nafea Faa Ipoipo’ (When Will You Marry?) was absolutely no exception to this rule when it sold at auction for $210m in 2015.

An oil on canvas painting, Nafea Faa Ipoipo was painted with the intention of showing Tahiti as an Edenic paradise, contrasting with the primitivist representations previously exhibited by French artists.

Gauguin was clearly successful in his aims, depicting a contrast between the western and ‘orientale’ styles on the background of the spectacular landscape. Gauguin was fascinated by the Tahitian language, choosing to name his paintings using their tongue rather than his native French.

Rumors of the sale price for this artwork fluctuate, with some estimates stretching to $300 million which makes this piece the most expensive art piece sold that year worldwide, and certainly one of the most expensive pieces of art as of 2024.

The buyer is suspected to be Qatar Museums, who would have purchased it off Rudolf Staechelin, a retired Sotheby’s executive.

• Date of sale: Around September 2014
• Final price: Around $210 million
• Details of sale: Unknown – private sale

3. The Card Players | Paul Cézanne | (1892/93) | sold for c.$250m (€212m)

Painted during Cézanne’s final period in the early 1890s, The Card Players is a series of oil paintings produced – varying in size, settings, and a number of players included within the painting, the series is composed of five paintings and a number of drawings and studies carried out in preparation for the full-scale series.

One version of this expensive piece of art, The Card Players, sold on auction for around $250m to the Royal Family of Qatar, making it the 3rd most expensive painting ever sold at auction as of 2024.

As a post-impressionist, Cezanne and his paintings were particularly sought after so the selling price really goes as no surprise- the purchase was carried out as part of Qatar’s effort to establish itself as part as the international intellectual hub, something that the purchase of quality pieces of art would allow it to do.

Another private sale made to a seller in Qatar, Paul Cezanne’s The Card Players was purchased by its Royal family, who are known to be prolific fine art investors and collectors of the most expensive pieces of abstract art in the world as well.

• Date of sale: Around April 2011
• Final price: Around $250 million
• Details of sale: Unknown – private sale

2. Interchange | Willem de Kooning | (1955) | sold for c.$300m (€254m)

One of de Kooning’s first and the most expensive abstract artworks in the world at the time of this writing (2023), Interchange (also known as Interchanged) was sold by the David Geffen foundation at an auction to philanthropist Kenneth C. Griffin in 2015 for around $300m, along with Jackson Pollock’s 17a.

The painting was particularly profound because of de Kooning’s clear change in style after being inspired and influenced by fellow artist Franz Kline, adding to its value. Part of the abstract impressionist movement, the painting is a study of the female figure as an internally primitive concept and incorporates yellows, oranges, and blue colors.

The value of this painting comes partially from the fact that nothing like this painting will ever be produced again and its value aligns with this idea. The painting is said to be the best representative of de Kooning’s style, his representation of expressionism at its finest.

Billionaire Ken Griffin, the founder of Citadel, had a bumper art day when he purchased this painting alongside Jackson Pollock’s Number 17A. Together, they totaled $300 million, making it one of the biggest ever days for private art deals.

• Date of sale: Around September 2015
  • Final price: Around $300 million
  • Details of sale: Unknown – private sale

 

1. Salvator Mundi | Leonardo da Vinci | (1490-1519) | sold for $450.3m (€382m)

Unsurprisingly, the most expensive painting in the world ever sold at auction as of 2024 was created by Leonardo da Vinci. In 2017, for an enormous $450.3m, Salvator Mundi was sold.

The picture depicts Jesus in Renaissance dress, making the sign of the cross with one hand and holding a clear, crystal ball with the other. Arguably an attempt at the collaboration of science and faith, the painting is known to represent the celestial spheres of the universe and the heavens.

One of fewer than 20 known paintings attributed to da Vinci, its value is exponential and the sale price is clearly representative of that. Strangely enough, the painting’s current location is unknown and its history is intriguing.

Found at auction in 2005, the painting was heavily overpainted and looked nothing like the original painting – although art historians hoped that it was the long-missing da Vinci painting that it replicated. The painting was carefully restored by Dianne Dwyer Modestini, using acetone to remove the overpainting.

Its accreditation to da Vinci came from Dwyer Modestini’s assertion that the lips were so ‘perfect’ that no other painter could have produced it, although some critics claim that it should only be attributed to the workshop, not to da Vinci himself.

There’s a lot of mystery surrounding this most expensive painting ever sold as of 2024. Until 1763, it bounced from Royal to Royal before going missing. It resurfaced in the late 19th Century, and wasn’t seen again until it was mislabelled in a Sotheby’s exhibition in 1958. It was sold for just £45.

47 years later, it sells for $10,000 to New York art dealer Alexander Parish.

In 2013, 8 years after Alexander Parish bought it, it was identified as a Leonardo Da Vinci. The price tag rocketed to $75 million, then to $127.5 million, and finally, in 2017, to $450.3 million.

• Date of sale: November 15th 2017
• Final price: $450.3 million
• Details of sale: Auction [Christie’s, New York]

 

 

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR FINE ART AUCTION MARKETS?

The history of art auction markets is rich and varied. However, there is every reason to think the future will be equally exciting. Let’s explore some of the key trends that will shape the space over the coming years. 

 

1. Online sales will continue to grow

 

While the first half of 2023 saw the online sales for major auction houses decline by 5%, it’s important to put these numbers in context. When compared to 2019, sales are up a staggering 300%.

There are many factors influencing the rise of online fine art auctions. Increasing globalization, the rise of smartphones, and the birth of a range of online platforms will all increase digital sales. What’s more, apps are popping up that promise users the ability to buy shares in art. These applications could revolutionize how art is bought. However, the jury is still out on the reputation of these businesses.

 

2. Fine art auctions will need to overcome interest rate hikes

 

The years of accommodative monetary policy are over. Roaring inflation across the globe forced central banks into action, leading to successive interest rates designed to put the handbrake on a runaway economy. As the costs of borrowing money rise, the art market will take a liquidity hit. 

The first half of 2023 saw $5 million spent in fine art auctions. Crucially, this was down 14% from 2022. However, the most expensive paintings in the world took a bigger hit, with works valued at $10 billion and above being sold less often during the start of 2023 — down from $2.4 billion in sales to $1.2 billion.

Despite challenging macroeconomic times, the art market has proved its resilience. A graphic from the Art Basel and UBS Art Market Report from 2023 shows fine arts’ ability to bounce back despite difficulties.

 

3. New technologies 

 

While the fine art market is steeped in tradition, it has never been shy of adopting new technologies. Claims that blockchains could help track the provenance of works are a little overcooked, yet AI could provide a more convincing use of technology. For example, some startups have already claimed success rates of 98% of spotting forged works, leading to contracts with insurance firms.

 

4. New markets emerge

 

As the global financial markets change, new players will enter the space. China, Asia Pacific, and Middle-Eastern and North Africa (MENA) could alter the market and even the identity of the ​​most priceless painting due to shifts in taste.

As these regions grow in financial power, local arts may take center stage. Gulf state royals have already invested big sums in art, with China also taking the plunge. Yet, the full potential of these markets has yet to be seen. 

 

5. ESG considerations

 

Environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) is a factor for investors, and these principles are also at play within the fine art community. In recent years, the provenance of certain pieces has come into play, with Christie’s being used in a French court to restitute an Adriaen Van Der Werff Painting stolen during the Second World War. 

If big investment firms are buying art, we may see ESG considerations play a bigger role within the industry.

 

6. More third-party backing

Auction houses are now using third-party backers to guarantee lots instead of offering house guarantees themselves. This is because house guarantees can be risky for auction houses, as they take on all the downside risk. Third-party backers can help to reduce this risk by providing irrevocable bids on lots. This means that the auction house is not liable for any losses if the lot does not sell for a high enough price.

 

 

How Fine Art Is Responding to the Russian Invasion of Ukraine

 

Across the globe, the art world responds to the Russo-Ukrainian conflict by condemning aggression with art. Some artists are abandoning international exhibition commitments. And curators ally themselves with the military to safeguard museums and hide iconic, cultural, and rare artworks underground from looting and extinction. 

 

1. Sotheby’s Cancels Traditional June Russian Art Auction

Elite auction houses Sotheby’s, Bonhams, and Christie’s cancel June’s traditional successful auctions of Russia’s most delicate art pieces.

As a result, Russian collectors amassed nearly $17 million, while Russia’s industrialists, bankers, and art collectors have come under scrutiny since the beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian conflict. 

In addition, Sotheby’s has organized fundraising for the people deeply affected by the war. 

2. Ukrainian Artists Stages an Exhibition of War Crimes

Ukrainian artists collaborate with the Kyiv-based Pinchuk Foundation for an exhibition at the former Russia House titled Russia War Crimes House. 

The collection features documentary photographs and voiceover recordings of convincing war crimes committed by the Russian military in Ukraine.

3. Maidan Museum in Kyiv

The Maidan Museum, dedicated to the Ukrainian “Maidan” revolution in 2014, collects commodities that help describe the current conflict for future generations.

And rather than collecting delicate art valuables, Maidan Museum searches for everyday things like weapons, artisan goods, and 4,000 other objects concealed from the public. 

4. Ukraine Accuses Russia of Looting

The Mariupol Museum of Local History, the Museum of Medallion art, and The Kuindzhi Art have reported over 2000 artworks stolen under criminal investigation. 

Since the beginning of the battle, museums surrounding Mariupol have stowed historically and nationally valued paintings from the terror of military attacks. 

However, Borys Voznytskyi Lviv Nation Art Gallery reinstalled artwork across 18 branches with the pursuit of opening an online exhibit.

 

As a quick sum up of some of the most expensive art and paintings in the world, you can also watch our short video below:

At our high end pawn shop in Mayfair, London we offer credit against fine art and other luxury assets with minimal paperwork, plus specialist advice throughout. Some of the many artists we loan against include Andy Warhol, Bernard Buffet, Damien Hirst, David Hockney, Marc Chagall, Raoul Duffy, Sean Scully, Tom Wesselmann, Tracey Emin, Banksy, and Roy Lichtenstein to name just a few. If you are looking for a quick overview of our various loans please visit our dedicated fine art loans webpage.

 

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