The rarest paintings. The most expensive artists in the world

The most expensive paintings in the world, as a rule, are stored in galleries and museums in Europe and the USA. These paintings are so valuable that art lovers are willing to spend millions of dollars to purchase them. Most often, the value of a painting depends on its age and the artist who painted it. Some paintings look quite ordinary at first glance, but are worth millions simply because they were painted by world-famous artists such as Vincent Van Gogh or Pablo Picasso. Below is a list of the twenty-five most ridiculously expensive pieces of art and paintings in history:

25. Acrobat and Young Harlequin

This painting by Pablo Picasso was originally estimated at $38.5 million and sold for $69.4 million. This painting, painted in 1905, was first exhibited in Action: Cahsiers Individualistes De Philosophie at Princeton University in 1923 and was sold by Roger Janssen's heir to Miitsukoshi in 1988. On this moment The painting is in America and is in the public domain.

24. “Agile Rabbit” (Au Lapin Agile)

The Agile Rabbit was painted in 1904 by Pablo Picasso and sold in 1989 by Joan Whitney Payson's daughter to Walter H Annenberg for $70 million. The auction took place on November 27, 1989 at Sotheby's, New York.

23. Diana and Actaeon

This painting by Titian, Italian artist Renaissance, was written between 1556 and 1559. She is considered one of his greatest masterpieces. The painting depicts the moment when the goddess Diana met Actaeon. In 2009, the Duke of Sutherland donated this painting National galleries Scotland and London (National Galleries of Scotland & National Gallery in London). The painting is valued at $70.6 million.

22. Green Car Crash (Green Burning Car I)

This painting, painted by Andy Warhol in 1963, was sold on May 16, 2007 to Philip Niarchos. Green Car Crash, better known as Green Burning Car I, was originally priced at $71.7 million but sold for $73.7 million. The auction took place at Christie's, New York.

21. “Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers”

The painting “Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers” depicts a bouquet of sunflowers placed in a vase. This painting Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh was painted in 1888 and is the second painting of sunflowers by this artist. It was sold by Chester Beatty's sister-in-law Yasuo Goto in 1987 for $74.5 million, nearly double its original price of $39 million.

20. “White Center (Yellow, Pink and Lavender on Rose)”

This painting, painted by Mark Rothko and originally valued at $72.8 million, was sold by David Rockefeller in 2007 royal family Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa At-Thani for $74.9 million. This abstract painting was completed in 1950 and is considered part of the artist's legendary, protean painting style.

19. Curtain, Jug and Fruitbowl

This painting, painted by Paul Cezanne in 1894, was auctioned on May 10, 1999 at Sotheby's, New York. Although most people know it as "Curtain, Jug and Fruit Bowl", the original title of the painting is "Rideau, Cruchon et Compotier". The painting was sold by the Whitney family to an unknown buyer for an adjusted price of $77.4 million.

18. Water Lily Pond

The painting “Pond with Water Lilies” (Le Bassin aux Nympheas) was painted in 1919 French artist-impressionist Claude Monet, but it was put up for auction only on June 4, 2008. This oil on canvas painting was sold at Sotheby's in New York to J Irrwin and Xenia S Miller for $79.7 million.

17. “Self Portrait of Picasso”

Picasso's Self-Portrait (Yo, Picasso) was sold for $47.9 million on May 9, 1989 by Wendell Cherry to Stavros Niachros at Sotheby's in New York. This painting was painted in 1901 and depicts the artist himself. It was considered the second most popular painting on the day it was auctioned. Her adjusted net worth is currently $90.5 million.

16. “Wheatfield with Cypresses”

This painting, part of a series of paintings called "Wheatfield", was painted by Van Gogh in 1889 at the Saint Paul De Mausole mental hospital in Arles, France (where Van Gogh was temporarily incarcerated as a patient). In 1993, the painting was sold by Emil Georg Bührle's son to Walter Annenberg for $84.1 million.

15. False Start

"False Start" is a painting by Jasper Johns that was offered at private auction by Richard Gray on October 12, 2006. It was written in 1959 and sold by David Geffen to Kenneth Griffin for $84.6 million, which was $4.6 million more than the original price of $80 million.

14. “Marriage of Pierrette”

Les Noces de Pierrette, best known as Pierrette's Wedding, was painted in 1905, during the artist's Blue Period. During this period, Picasso experienced poverty and depression following the suicide of his friend Carlos Casagemas in 1901. In 1907 it was acquired by an art dealer named Joseph Stansky, but between 1945 and 1962 it was in the possession of Picasso's son Paulo Picasso. It was sold by Fredrik Roos to Tomonori Tsurumaki for $84.8 million in 1989.

13. "Triptych, 1976" (Triptych, 1976)

The painting, entitled "Triptych", painted by Francis Bacon in 1976, was painted in oil and pastel on canvas and divided into three parts, each measuring 198 by 147 centimeters. It was sold at Sotheby's in London on May 14, 2008, where the Moueix Family sold the work of art to Roman Abramovich for $85.5 million.

12. “Portrait of Adele Block Bauer II”

This was the second portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer painted by Gustav Klimt in 1912. Adele Bloch-Bauer was the wife of Ferdinand Block Bauer and his model. This painting was put up for auction at Christie's and sold for almost $88 million.

11. “Portrait of Vincent Van Gogh”

Of the dozen self-portraits painted by Vincent van Gogh, this is the only one that has survived to this day. This self-portrait, painted in 1886, shows the artist's face exactly as Van Gogh saw it when looking into the mirror (which he used to paint his own face). The painting was sold for $93.5 million.

10. “Dora Maar with a cat” (Dora Maar with Cat)

"Dora Maar au Chat", also known as "Dora Maar with a Cat", was painted by Pablo Picasso in 1941. This painting shows the artist's mistress named Dora Maar, who is sitting in a chair with a kitten on her shoulder. The size of this painting is only 128.27 by 95.25 centimeters, however, it was sold in 2006 for $95,216,000.

9. Massacre of the Innocents

The painting "Massacre of the Innocents" was painted by Peter Paul Rubens and depicts the Massacre of the Innocents in Bethlehem in the Book of Matthew of the Holy Bible. It was completed in 1611 and auctioned at Sotheby's in London on July 10, 2002, where an Austrian family sold it to Kenneth Thomson for $99.7 million.

8. “Irises”

This painting by Vincent Van Gogh was painted in 1889 and sold to Alan Bond for $101.2 million by Joan Whitney Payson's son at Sotheby's in New York on November 11, 1987. Van Gogh painted this masterpiece while in a psychiatric hospital in France.

7. “Portrait of Joseph Roulin”

Another Van Gogh painting, Portrait of the Postman Joseph Roulin, was completed in 1889 and sold to the New York Museum contemporary art(Museum of Modern Art in New York) for more than $111 million (more than double its original price of $58 million).

6. Boy with a Pipe

Painted by Pablo Picasso in 1905, Garçon à la pipe or Boy with a Pipe was completed during Picasso's Rose Period while he was in Paris. The painting shows a Persian guy wearing a wreath of roses, holding a pipe in his hand. The painting was sold by the Greentree Foundation to the Whitney family in 2004 for $104 million. Her current net worth is estimated at $129 million.

5. “Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette”

The painting "Bal Du Moulin de Galette", better known as "The Ball at the Moulin de la Galette", was painted by French artist Pierre Auguste Renoir in 1876. The cost of the painting is estimated at $141.5 million. At the moment, this painting is kept in the Orsay Museum (Musee de Orsay), located in Paris. This famous impressionist painting by Betsey Whitney was sold by Ryoei Saito in 1990.

4. “Portrait of Dr. Gachet”

The painting entitled “Portrait of Doctor Gachet”, painted by the Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh, depicts a doctor during last months Van Gogh's life. The masterpiece was completed in 1890 in Auvers and sold at auction for $82.5 million. The painting is currently worth $149.5 million.

3. “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I”

This painting, painted by Gustav Klimt in 1907, was one of two portraits of Adele Bloch-Bauer. Considered one of his greatest masterpieces, the painting was sold to Ronald Lauder for $135 million at an auction held in New York in June 2006. For four months, this painting remained the most expensive in the world. It is currently valued at $155.8 million.

2. "Woman III"

Woman III was painted by abstract expressionist Willem de Kooning and was one of six paintings he completed between 1951 and 1953. For two decades, the painting was part of the collection of the Tehram Museum of Contemporary Art, but in 2006 it was sold to Steven Cohen for $137.5 million. Currently, its value is estimated at $159.8 million.

1. “No. 5, 1948”

This painting was painted by Jackson Pollock in 1948 and purchased by David Martinez from David Geffen for $140 million at auction in New York on November 2, 2006. At the moment, the cost of this painting is estimated at 162.7 million dollars.

At the beginning of December 2011, new price records were set at Russian auctions in London. Summing up the year, we have compiled a list of the most expensive works by Russian artists based on the results of auction sales.

33 most expensive places. Source: 33 most expensive places.

According to the ratings, the most expensive Russian artist is Mark Rothko. His White Center (1950), sold for 72.8 million dollars, in addition, ranks 12th in the list of the most expensive paintings in the world in general. However, Rothko was Jewish, born in Latvia and left Russia at the age of 10. Is it fair?with such a stretch chase for records? Therefore, we crossed Rothko, like other emigrants who left Russia without yet becoming artists (for example, Tamara de Lempicki and Chaim Soutine), from the list.

No. 1. Kazimir Malevich - $60 million.

The author of “Black Square” is too important a person for his works to be often found on the open market. So this painting got to auction in a very difficult way. In 1927, Malevich, planning to organize an exhibition, brought almost a hundred works from his Leningrad workshop to Berlin. However, he was urgently recalled to his homeland, and he left them in the custody of the architect Hugo Hering. He saved the paintings in difficult years fascist dictatorship, when they could well have been destroyed as “degenerate art,” and in 1958, after Malevich’s death, he sold them to the State Stedelek Museum (Holland).

IN beginning of XXI century, a group of Malevich's heirs, almost forty people, began legal proceedings - because Hering was not the legal owner of the paintings. As a result, the museum gave them this painting, and will give them four more, which will certainly cause a sensation at some auction. After all, Malevich is one of the most forged artists in the world, and the provenance of the paintings from the Stedelek Museum is impeccable. And in January 2012, the heirs received another painting from that Berlin exhibition, taking it away from the Swiss museum.

No. 2. Wassily Kandinsky - $22.9 million.

The auction price of a work is influenced by its reputation. This is not only a big name for the artist, but also “provenance” (origin). Item from the famous private collection or good museum always costs more than work from an anonymous collection. “Fugue” comes from the famous Guggenheim Museum: one day director Thomas Krenz removed Kandinsky, a painting by Chagall and Modigliani from the museum collections, and put them up for sale. For some reason, the museum used the money received to purchase a collection of 200 works by American conceptualists. Krenz was condemned for a very long time for this decision.

This painting by the father of abstract art is curious because it set a record back in 1990, when the auction rooms of London and New York had not yet been filled with reckless Russian buyers. Thanks to this, by the way, it did not disappear into some very private collection in luxurious mansion, and is located in permanent exhibition in the private Beyeler Museum in Switzerland, where anyone can see it. Rare case for such a purchase!

No. 3. Alexey Yavlensky - £9.43 million

An unknown buyer paid approximately $18.5 million for a portrait depicting a girl from a village near Munich. Shokko is not a name, but a nickname. Every time the model came to the artist’s studio, she asked for a cup of hot chocolate. So “Shokko” took root after her.

The sold painting is part of his famous cycle “Race”, depicting the domestic peasantry of the first quarter of the twentieth century. And, really, she portrays her with such faces that it’s scary to watch. Here, in the image of a shepherd, the peasant poet Nikolai Klyuev, the forerunner of Yesenin, appears. Among his poems are the following: “In the heat of the day, the scarlet flower has become defoliated and faded - The daring light of a child is far from the sweetheart.”

No. 19. Konstantin Makovsky - £2.03 million

Makovsky - salon painter, famous a huge amount heads of hawthorns in kokoshniks and sundresses, as well as a painting “Children Running from a Thunderstorm,” which at one time was constantly published on gift boxes chocolates. Its sweet historical paintings are in stable demand among Russian buyers.

The theme of this painting- Old Russian "kiss ritual" To noble women Ancient Rus' not allowed to leave the female half, and only for the sake of the guests of honor could they come out, bring a glass and (the most pleasant part) allow themselves to be kissed. Pay attention to the painting hanging on the wall: this is an image of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, one of the first equestrian portraits to appear in Rus'. Its composition, although it was blatantly copied from a European model, was considered unusually innovative and even shocking for that time.

No. 20. Svyatoslav Roerich - $2.99 million

The son of Nicholas Roerich left Russia as a teenager. Lived in England, USA, India. Like his father, he was interested in Eastern philosophy. Like his father, he painted many paintings on Indian themes. His father generally occupied a huge place in his life - he painted more than thirty portraits of him. This painting was created in India, where the clan settled in the middle of the century. Paintings by Svyatoslav Roerich rarely appear at auctions, and in Moscow works of the famous dynasty can be seen in the halls of the Museum of the East, to which the authors donated them, as well as in the museum of the International Center of the Roerichs, which is located in a luxurious noble estate right behind the Pushkin Museum. Both museums do not really like each other: the Museum of the East lays claim to both the building and the collections of the Roerich Center.

No. 21. Ivan Shishkin - £1.87 million

The main Russian landscape painter spent three summers in a row on Valaam and left many images of this area. This work is a little gloomy and does not look like classic Shishkin. But this is explained by the fact that the picture refers to his early period, when he had not found his style and was strongly influenced by the Düsseldorf school of landscape painting, in which he studied.

We already mentioned this Düsseldorf school above, in the recipe for fake Aivazovsky. " Shishkins" are made according to the same scheme, for example, in 2004 at Sotheby's exhibited “Landscape with a Stream” from the Düsseldorf period of the painter. It was estimated at $1 million and was confirmed by an examination of the Tretyakov Gallery. An hour before the sale, the lot was withdrawn - it turned out to be a painting by another student of this school, the Dutchman Marinus Adrian Koekkoek, purchased in Sweden for 65 thousand dollars.

No. 22. Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin - £1.83m

A portrait of a boy holding an icon of the Virgin Mary was found in a private collection in Chicago. After it was handed over to the auction house, experts began research to try to establish its origins. It turned out that the painting was at exhibitions in 1922 and 1932. In the 1930s, the artist’s works traveled around the States as part of an exhibition of Russian art. Perhaps it was then that the owners acquired this painting.

Notice the empty space on the wall behind the boy. At first the author thought of painting a window with a green landscape there. This would balance the picture both in composition and colors - the grass would echo the green tunic of the Mother of God (by the way, according to the canon it should be blue). Why Petrov-Vodkin painted over the window is unknown.

No. 23. Nicholas Roerich - £1.76 million

Before visiting Shambhala and starting to correspond with the Dalai Lama, Nicholas Roerich quite successfully specialized in Old Russian theme and even made ballet sketches for Russian Seasons. The lot sold belongs to this period. The scene depicted is miraculous phenomenon above the water, which is observed by a Russian monk, most likely Sergius of Radonezh. It is curious that the painting was painted in the same year as another vision of Sergius (then the youth Bartholomew), appearing in our list above. The stylistic difference is colossal.

Roerich painted many paintings and the lion's share of them in India. He donated several pieces to the Indian Institute of Agricultural Research. Recently two of them, Himalayas, Kanchenjunga and Sunset, Kashmir ", appeared at auction in London. Only then did the junior researchers of the institute notice that they had been robbed. In January 2011, the Indians applied to a London court for permission to investigate this crime in England. The interest of thieves in Roerich’s heritage is understandable, because there is a demand.

No. 24. Lyubov Popova- 1.7 million pounds

Lyubov Popova died young, so she did not manage to become famous like another Amazon of the avant-garde, Natalya Goncharova. And her legacy is smaller - so it’s difficult to find her work for sale. After her death, a detailed inventory of the paintings was compiled. This still life long years was known only from a black and white reproduction until it surfaced in a private collection, turning out to be the artist’s most significant work in private hands. Pay attention to the Zhostovo tray - perhaps this is a hint of Popova’s taste for folk crafts. She came from the family of an Ivanovo merchant who dealt in textiles, and she herself created many sketches of propaganda textiles based on Russian traditions.

No. 25. Aristarkh Lentulov - £1.7 million

Lentulov entered the history of the Russian avant-garde with his memorable image of St. Basil's Cathedral - either cubism or patchwork quilt. In this landscape he tries to split space according to a similar principle, but it doesn’t turn out as exciting. Actually, that's why "St. Basil the Blessed""in the Tretyakov Gallery, and this painting- on the art market. After all, museum workers once had the opportunity to skim the cream.

No. 26. Alexey Bogolyubov - £1.58 million

Selling this little-known artist, albeit the Tsar’s favorite landscape painter Alexandra III, for such crazy money - a symptom of the market frenzy on the eve of the 2008 crisis. At that time, Russian collectors were ready to buy even minor masters. Moreover, first-class artists are rarely sold.

Perhaps this painting was sent as a gift to some official: it has a suitable subject, because the Cathedral of Christ the Savior has long ceased to be just a church, and has become a symbol. And a flattering origin - the painting was kept in the royal palace. Pay attention to the details: the brick Kremlin tower is covered with white plaster, and the hill inside the Kremlin is completely undeveloped. Well, why bother trying? In the 1870s, the capital was St. Petersburg, not Moscow, and the Kremlin was not a residence.

No. 27. Isaac Levitan - £1.56 million

Completely atypical for Levitan, the work was sold at the same auction as Bogolyubov’s painting, but it turned out to be cheaper. This is connected, of course, with the fact that the picture does not look like Levitan " Its authorship, however, is indisputable; a similar plot is in the Dnepropetrovsk Museum. 40 thousand light bulbs, with which the Kremlin was decorated, were lit in honor of the coronation of Nicholas II. In a few days the Khodynka disaster will happen.

No. 28. Arkhip Kuindzhi - $3 million.

The famous landscape painter painted three similar paintings. The first is in the Tretyakov Gallery, the third is in the State Museum of Belarus. The second, presented at the auction, was intended for Prince Pavel Pavlovich Demidov-San Donato. This representative of the famous Ural dynasty lived in a villa near Florence. In general, the Demidovs, having become Italian princes, had fun as best they could. For example, Pavel's uncle, from whom he inherited princely title, was so rich and noble that he married the niece of Napoleon Bonaparte, and one day in bad mood flogged her. The poor lady had a hard time getting a divorce. The painting, however, did not reach Demidov; it was acquired by the Ukrainian sugar factory Tereshchenko.

No. 29. Konstantin Korovin- 1.497 million pounds

Impressionists characterized by a very “light”, sweeping writing style. Korovin is the main Russian impressionist. It is very popular among scammers; According to rumors, the number of its fakes at auctions reaches 80%. If a painting from a private collection was exhibited at personal exhibition artist in the famous state museum, then its reputation is strengthened, and at the next auction it costs much more. In 2012 Tretyakov Gallery plans a large-scale exhibition of Korovin. Maybe there will be works from private collections. This paragraph- an example of manipulation of the reader’s consciousness using the example of listing facts that do not have a direct logical connection with each other.

Please note that from March 26 to August 12, 2012, the Tretyakov Gallery promises to organizeKorovin exhibition . Read more about the biography of the most charming of the Silver Age artists in our review opening days of the State Tretyakov Gallery in 2012.

No. 30. Yuri Annenkov - $2.26 million.

Annenkov managed to emigrate in 1924 and made a good career in the West. For example, in 1954 he was nominated for an Oscar as costume designer for the film "Madame de..." His early Soviet portraits are best known- the faces are cubist, faceted, but completely recognizable. For example, he repeatedly drew Leon Trotsky in this way - and even repeated the drawing many years later from memory, when the Times magazine wanted to decorate the cover with it.

The character depicted in the record-breaking portrait is the writer Tikhonov-Serebrov. He entered the history of Russian literature mainly through his close friendship with. So close that, according to dirty rumors, the artist’s wife Varvara Shaikevich even gave birth to the great proletarian writer daughter. It’s not very noticeable in the reproduction, but the portrait was made using the collage technique: on top of a layer oil paint there's glass and plaster here, and even a real doorbell attached.

No. 31. Lev Lagorio - £1.47 million

Another minor landscape painter, for some reason sold for a record price. One of the indicators of the success of the auction is exceeding the estimate (“estimate”) - the minimum price that the auction house experts have set for the lot. The estimate for this landscape was 300-400 thousand pounds, but it was sold for 4 times more expensive. As one London auctioneer said: “happiness is when two Russian oligarchs compete for the same thing."

No. 32. Viktor Vasnetsov - £1.1 million

Bogatyrs of steel business card back in the 1870s. He returns to his star theme, like other veterans of Russian painting, in his young years Soviet republic- both for financial reasons and to feel in demand again. This picture is the author's repetition “Ilya Muromets” (1915), which is kept in the House-Museum of the artist (on Prospekt Mira).

No. 33. Erik Bulatov - £1.084 million

The second living artist on our list (he also said that for the artist The best way raising prices for your work is death). , by the way, this is a Soviet Warhol, underground and anti-communist. He worked in the genre of social art, which was created by the Soviet underground, as our version of pop art. “Glory to the CPSU” is one of the artist’s most famous works. According to his own explanations, the letters here symbolize a lattice blocking the sky, that is, freedom, from us.

Bonus: Zinaida Serebryakova - £1.07 million

Serebryakova loved to paint nude women, self-portraits and her four children. This ideal feminist world is harmonious and calm, which cannot be said about the life of the artist herself, who barely escaped from Russia after the revolution and spent a lot of effort to get her children out of there.

“Nude” is not an oil painting, but a pastel drawing. This is the most expensive Russian drawing. Such a high amount paid for the graphics is comparable to the prices for Impressionist drawings and caused great surprise at Sotheby's, which started the auction with 150 thousand pounds sterling and received a million.

The list is compiled based on prices indicated on the official websites of auction houses. This price is made up of the net price (as stated when the hammer comes down), and« buyer's premium (additional percentage of the auction house). Other sources may indicate "pure» price. The dollar to pound exchange rate often fluctuates, so British and American lots are located relative to each other with approximate accuracy (we are not Forbes).

Additions and corrections to our list are welcome.

To date modern painting gained incredible popularity, so it became known not only for its tendency to expand boundaries and explore new expressive means, but also record sales figures on the contemporary art market over the past few years. Moreover, artists from almost all over the world, from America to Asia, enjoy success. Next you will find out whose names represent the best contemporary painting in the world, who is it, the most expensive contemporary artist, and who fell just short of this title.

The most expensive contemporary artists

Among the myriad names that modern painting has, the paintings of only certain artists enjoy exceptional success. Among them, the most expensive paintings were owned by the famous neo-expressionist and graffiti artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, who, however, died at the age of 27. On our list you will see only the first seven of those wealthy artists who are still alive today.

Brice Marden

The works of this American author are quite difficult to classify and lead to a single art movement, although he is often classified as a representative of either minimalism or abstractionism. But unlike artists in these styles, whose paintings seem to have never been touched, Marden's modern painting retains the palette knife strokes and other traces of his work. One of those who influenced his work is considered to be another contemporary artist, Jasper Johns, whose name you will see later.

Zeng Fanzhi

This contemporary artist is one of the main figures in the Chinese art scene today. It was his work called “The Last Supper”, based on famous work Leonardo da Vinci, was sold for $23.3 million and became the most expensive painting that modern Asian painting can boast of. Also famous are the artist’s works “Self-Portrait”, the triptych “Hospital” and paintings from the “Masks” series.

In the 90s, his painting style often underwent changes and eventually moved away from expressionism to symbolism.

Peter Doig

Peter Doig is an internationally renowned Scottish contemporary artist whose work is permeated by the theme magical realism. Many of his works tend to disorient the viewer, even when they depict recognizable images such as figures, trees and buildings.

In 2015, his painting “Swamped” managed to break the record and become the most expensive painting by contemporary artists from Scotland, being sold at auction for 25.9 million. Doig’s paintings “The Architect’s House in the Hollow”, “White Canoe”, “Reflection”, “Roadside Diner” and others are also popular.

Christopher Wool

In his work, contemporary artist Christopher Wool explores various post-conceptual ideas. The most famous modern paintings The artist's works are block inscriptions depicted in black on a white canvas.

Such paintings by contemporary artists cause a lot of controversy and discontent among adherents traditional painting, but, one way or another, one of Wool’s works, “Apocalypse,” brought him $26 million. Wool does not think long about the titles of the paintings, but names them according to the inscriptions: “Blue Fool”, “Trouble”, etc.

Jasper Johns

Contemporary artist Jasper Johns is known for his rebellious attitude towards Abstract Expressionism, which dominated the painting arena early in the artist's career. Moreover, he works by creating expensive canvases with flags, license plates, numbers and other well-known symbols that already have a clear meaning and do not need to be deciphered.

By the way, the most expensive paintings by contemporary artists include the American work “Flag”, sold at auction in 2010 for $28 million. You can also look at the works “Three Flags”, “False Start”, “From 0 to 9”, “Target with Four Faces” and many others.

Gerhard Richter

This modern artist from Germany, like many painters at the beginning of his career, studied realistic academic painting, but later became interested in more progressive art.

In the author’s work one can see the influence of many art movements of the 20th century, such as abstract expressionism, pop art, minimalism and conceptualism, but at the same time Richter retained a skeptical attitude towards all established artistic and philosophical beliefs, being confident that modern painting is dynamics and search. The artist’s works include “Land of Meadows”, “Reading”, “1024 Colors”, “Wall”, etc.

Jeff Koons

And finally, here he is - the most expensive contemporary artist in the whole world. American Jeff Koons works in the neo-pop style and is known for his catchy, kitschy and defiant creativity.

He is mainly known as the author of a huge number of modern sculptures, some of which were exhibited at Versailles itself. But also among the artist’s works there are paintings for which special connoisseurs are willing to pay millions of dollars: “Bell of Liberty”, “Auto”, “Girl with a Dolphin and a Monkey”, “Saddle” and others.

Take it for yourself and tell your friends!