THE MOST EXPENSIVE PAINTING EVER

1. JACKSON POLLOCK: "Number 5, 1948", 1948 - $140 million

Private sale, 2006. Seller: David Geffen. Buyer: David Martínez (claimed)

Right now, this stunning "drip" by Jackson Pollock is the most expensive painting ever sold, though the stunning price is still not confirmed (but also not denied). The exorbitant sum demonstrates not only the strength of the Art market, but also the increasing interest for the contemporary works of Art.



2. WILLEM DE KOONING: "Woman III", 1952-53 - $137.5 million

Private sale, 2006. Seller: David Geffen. Buyer: Steven Cohen

Pollock the first. De Kooning second. The inmediate conclusion is that the american abstract expressionism has displaced the impressionism as the most sought-after Art period. This painting is the only "Woman" by Willem de Kooning still in private hands. One of this women -described by T. Hess as "black goddesses"- has been chosen by theartwolf.com as one of the 50 masterworks of the history of painting.



3. GUSTAV KLIMT: "Adele Bloch-bauer I", 1907 - $135 million

Private sale, 2006. Buyer: Ronald Lauder.

The acquisition of this iconic work by cosmetic magnate Ronald Lauder caused a shock in the Art world, not only for the spectacular sum paid for it, but also for the way it was sold, far away from the noisy auction houses. The painting was part of a group of five canvases recently returned to the heirs of Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer. The Nazis confiscated his paintings during the World War II, and after the war, the canvases were placed at the National Gallery of Austria in 1948.