The most expensive paintings in the world right now

From a Modigliani masterpiece to a picture-perfect Picasso, these are the most valuable paintings to have ever gone under the hammer

After Leonardo da Vinci’s portrait of Christ, Salvator Mundi, smashed the record for the most expensive painting sold at an auction last November, we take a look at some of the artworks to have held the title…

Salvator Mundi, Leonardo da Vinci

Year made: c. 1500

Year of sale: 2017

Price sold: $450m

Buyer: Abu Dhabi’s department of culture and tourism

Interchange, Willem de Kooning

Year made: 1955

Year of sale: 2015

Price sold: $300m

Buyer: Kenneth C. Griffin

The Card Players, Paul Cézanne

Year made: 1890-95

Year of sale: 2012

Price sold: $250m

Buyer: The state of Qatar

When Will You Marry?, Paul Gaugin

Year made: 1892

Year of sale: 2015

Price sold: $210m

Buyer: Sheikha Al-Mayassa bint Hamad Al-Thani

Number 17A, Jackson Pollock

Year made: 1948

Year of sale: 2015/16

Price sold: $200m

Buyer: Kenneth C. Griffin

No.6 (Violent, Green and Red), Mark Rothko

Year made: 1951

Year of sale: 2014

Price sold: $186m

Buyer: Dmitry Rybolovlev

Pendant Portraits of Maertan Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit, Rembrandt

Year made: 1634

Year of sale: 2015

Price sold: €160m for the pair

Buyer: Louvre and Rijksmuseum

Les Femmes d’Alger, Pablo Picasso

Year made: 1954-55

Year of sale: 2015

Price sold: $179.4m

Buyer: Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani

Nu Couché, Amedeo Modigliani

Year made: 1917

Year of sale: $170.4m

Price sold: 2015

Buyer: Liu Yiqian

No.5, 1948, Jackson Pollock

Year made: 1948

Year of sale: 2006

Price sold: $140m

Buyer: David Martinez

Want to invest in art? Here’s how

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