The World’s Top Ten Most Expensive Paintings of all Time!

Rich monkey see, rich monkey do

1. IRISES

By Vincent Van Gogh
Sold for $49,000.000 at Sotheby's in New York on November 11^th ,1987.

Van Gogh lived and died in misery, absolute poverty and disgrace. Yet, his paintings nowadays (only after his death) fetch astronomical amounts of money ranging from $49,000.000 to $71,000.000. Can you explain this phenomenon? That is the irony of destiny and the absurdity of the world of art!! IRISES brought $49,000.000. And this just one piece of a series of paintings. Art critics called it a masterpiece. Just look at it. What do you think?

 It is really a masterpiece or a deranged artistic form of a mentally deranged man? Who cares and what difference it makes. There are two more Van Gogh paintings from the same series which are expected to fetch more than $80,000.000. They called him the obsessed and mad artist. But, who in reality is the obsessed and artistically deranged, the artist who created this painting, or the art collector with an ego bigger than the world is the “real” deranged and obsessed maniac?! You figure it out. Probably, you already did. "Irises" marked just he tip of the iceberg. for one of Van Gogh's many obsessions. This yellow one on the right brought $ 47,000.000. Hard to believe!!

2. Woman Seated in a Garden. Femme Assise Dans un Jardin

 This melancholic woman is Dora Maar, one of Picasso's numerous mistresses and paramours during the pre-war era. Picasso painted it in one day!

By Pablo Picasso
Sold for $49,500,000 at Sotheby’s in New York on November 10^th, 1999.
 
In other words, if it took Pablo Picasso 12 to 16 hours to finish this piece, his hourly wage would exceed $3,000.000 an hour!! But, who would dare to pretend at Sotheby’s or in a ritzy social salon that, art, great or mediocre is rated or priced by the hour? It does not matter whether the produced piece is a great piece or just a mockery or, how long it took the artist to finish his painting, as long as it is done by a famous artist. Fame sells. Fame means money, big time money  and not necessarily quality. Read below a report by Phil Hirschkorn. It is self-explanatory.

Picasso painting sells for nearly $50 million

By Phil Hirschkorn

NEW YORK (CNN) -- A colorful mid-career masterpiece by painter Pablo Picasso sold Wednesday for $49.5 million -- the second-highest price ever paid for the artist's work at a public sale.

The sale also marked the second time in two days a Picasso piece has fetched more than $40 million. The painting, "Woman Seated in a Garden," depicts Picasso's pre-war mistress, Dora Maar. He painted the 55-x-38 inch oil on canvas in a single day, December 10, 1938. The work was sold at a Sotheby's auction Wednesday evening to a telephone bidder, whose name was not immediately released. The price includes Sotheby's commission. On Tuesday, at a Christie's auction, Picasso's "Nude On a Black Couch" (1932) sold for $45.1 million, now the fifth-highest price ever paid for a Picasso. "Woman Seated in a Garden" came from the collection of Eleanore and Daniel Saidenberg, Manhattan gallery owners who were Picasso's American representatives from 1955 until the artist's death in 1973. A total of 46 works from the Saidenberg estate were on the auctioning block Wednesday. Sotheby's will be selling additional modern and impressionist art on Thursday. The highest price ever paid for a Picasso painting is $51.7 million. "Woman Seated in a Garden" sold for a $1 million more than a similar Picasso work, "The Dream," auctioned for $48.4 million by Christie's exactly two years ago Wednesday.

3. Les Noces de Pierrette

By Pablo Picasso
Sold for $51,671.920 at Binoche et Godeau, Paris on November 30^th, 1989

This painting is from his early works painted in 1905 during a period of poverty and despair in his life. According to so-called art experts and top auctioneers, paintings from this period generally sell for more money than the later works. Ridiculous. Usually, it is the opposite with masterpieces done by masters of the Renaissance and Baroque eras.  Christopher Burge, the honorary chairman of Christie’s America, said the sale revealed to the world that “for top quality, the market is as strong as it has ever been,” as ascertained  by the record-breaking Picasso.
       
 
       

4. Self-Portrait: Yo Picasso

By Pablo Picasso
Sold for $47,850.000 at  Sotheby's, New York on May 9 ^th, 1989

This self-portrait was painted in 1901. It is said that this painting was inspired and influenced by the suicide of Casagemas, Picasso's friend. Frankly, I don’t believe it. The man had no heart. Tough like a nail, especially with women and children. This painting inaugurated the BLUE PERIOD of Pablo Picasso.

5. Still Life with Curtain, Pitcher, and Bowl of Fruit

By Paul Cezanne
Sold for $60,500,000 at Sotheby’s, New York on May 10^th, 1999
Still Life with Curtain and Flowered Pitcher (Nature morte avec rideau et pichet fleuri) circa 1899. Oil on canvas 21 1/2 x 29 1/8 in (54.7 X 74 cm)

6. Portrait de l'artiste sans barbe

By Vincent Van Gogh
Sold for $71,500.000 at Christie's, New York on November 19^th, 1998

According to Stewart Waltzer, a noted art market expert and writer, Christie’s  originally estimated this painting at $20,000.000. And look what they got!! Even so-called art experts and art appraisers don’t know the real value of a piece, simply because, there are no rules and no LOGIC for this sort of business.

Highest bidders are always the world’s greatest egoists, show-off arrogant big time money shrewd people with a few drops of “real class” and art knowledge. They look upon as piece as an investment, an ego trip, an international vehicle for world fame!!. That’s fine, let’s them pay for it. The ego is expensive but, their ignorance is much more expensive that they think or admit!!

7. Au Moulin de la Galette

By Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Sold for $78,100.000 at Sotheby's, New York on May 17^th, 1990                                            Buyer: Ryoei Saito from Japan

8. Nude in a Black Armchair. Nu au fauteil noir (Portrait of Marie-Therese Walter, one of Picasso’s mistresses)  

By Pablo Picasso
Sold for $45,102.500 at Christie's, New York on November 9^th, 1999

Three months later, it was re-sold to an anonymous idiot from Japan for $47,500.000.

9. The Dream. Le rêve, circa 1932

By Pablo Picasso
Sold for $48,400.500 at Christie's, New York on November 10^th, 1997

THE WORLD’S MOST EXPENSIVE PAINTING. A WORLD RECORD IN THE HISTORY OF ART!

10. Portrait of Dr. Gachet

By Vincent Van Gogh
Sold for $82,500.000 at Christie's, New York on May 15^th, 1990

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