In 2022, it was relatively easy to put together an article about the 10 most expensive paintings of the auction year, because more than half of the works were auctioned on the same evening as part of Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen's collection at Christie's in November. It's similarly convenient for 2023, with four prices of this year's top 10 achieved in a single auction and a total of five on the same day.
Related: The 10 Most Expensive Artworks of 2022
The list is made up of some of the usual suspects, but also some more unexpected names. Only two auction houses and two cities are involved in the top 10 and a single artist managed to secure two places. Explore the top 10 list here:
10. Henri Rousseau, Les Flamants, 1910
Henri Rousseau is certainly one of those you may not expect to find on a list of the most expensive works of art. In fact, works by him are relatively rarely offered, especially those of the caliber of this one. Rousseau painted Les Flamants in 1910, the year of his death. It is an excellent example of the large-format jungle paintings that characterized the painter's late work and for which he is best known. Due to the importance of the work, Christie's gave it an estimate of $20-30 million. The picture was hotly contested and ultimately sold for more than double the low estimate, at $43.5 million. This meant an impressive new auction record for Henri Rousseau, whose previous record hadn't been broken since 1993 when Christie's London sold Rousseau's Portrait de Joseph Brummer for $4.9 million.
Related: The Art of Plein Air Painting
9. Wassily Kandinsky, Murnau with Church II, 1910
Wassily Kandinsky's Murnau with Church II from 1910 came from one of the artist's most important creative phases and was restituted in 2018 to the heirs of its only owners, the Jewish-German textile entrepreneur couple Johanna Margarete and Siegbert Samuel Stern. Their heirs decided to sell the work as part of Sotheby's Modern & Contemporary Evening Auction in London this year. The achieved price of £37.2 million (about $44.9 million) secured a new auction record for Kandinsky, as well as a place on the list of 2023's priciest paintings.
Related: A Restituted Painting Sets New Record for Kandinsky
8. Mark Rothko, Untitled (Yellow, Orange, Yellow, Light Orange), 1955
Let's now come to the first painting that was sold in the auction that occupies a total of four places on this list: Christie's 20th Century Evening Sale, which took place on November 9 in New York. The sale raised a total of $640 million and ten works sold for more than $20 million with numerous artist records. One of the top canvases came from an American private collection and was painted by Mark Rothko in his characteristic Color Field style in bright yellow and orange tones. Untitled (Yellow, Orange, Yellow, Light Orange) from 1955 remained in Rothko's possession until his death and the subsequent buyers did not part with it for the next 44 years. In its second auction, Untitled (Yellow, Orange, Yellow, Light Orange) fetched $46.4 million.
Related: Abstract Art: From Genre to Movement
7. Richard Diebenkorn, Recollections of a Visit to Leningrad, 1965
At the Christie's 20th Century Evening Sale mentioned above, one painting that sold for over $20 million and set an artist record was Richard Diebenkorn's Recollections of a Visit to Leningrad from 1965, which found a new owner for $46.4 million. As the name of the painting suggests, it was created after Diebenkorn's trip to what was then the Soviet Union, where he had the opportunity to take a closer look at Henri Matisse's work. This significant influence on Diebenkorn's work is evident in the present work, which had been part of the same collection since 1969.
Related: Christie's Auctions Off $640 Million Worth of Art
6. Francis Bacon, Figure in Movement, 1976
And sixth place on this list also comes from that illustrious Christie's auction on November 9, 2023 in New York. Figure in Movement was painted by Francis Bacon in 1976 and had been part of the same private collection since the following year. The painting was one of Bacon's works in which he dealt with the suicide of his long-time partner George Dyer. In 2017, Three Studies for a Portrait of George Dyer (1963), one of Bacon's first depictions of Dyer, fetched $51.8 million at Christie's. A similar amount was paid in 2023 for Figure in Movement: $52.2 million .
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5. Gustav Klimt, Island in the Attersee, around 1901/02
When Gustav Klimt's Island in the Attersee from 1901/02 was offered at a public auction for the first time ever at Sotheby's in New York on March 17, 2023, the estimated price of $45 million already indicated that it result in one of the highest prices for Klimt in auction history. It ultimately fetched $53.2 million. Klimt painted the painting during one of his summer stays in the Salzkammergut and made the iridescent surface of Lake Attersee the protagonist of the work, while the eponymous island was completely banished to the edge of the picture. Island in the Attersee was owned by the art historian and gallery owner Otto Kalif for around 40 years before it was sold to a New York private collection after his death in 1978.
4. Jean-Michel Basquiat, El Gran Espectaculo (The Nile), 1983
Jean-Michel Basquiat has become a recurring name among the most expensive artists at auction in recent years. In 2022, he came in ninth place with Untitled (1982), and in 2017, he came in third place with his most expensive work to date (another Untitled from 1982). In 2021, it was second place for In This Case (1983), Basquiat's highest placement to date, which was achieved at Christie's 21st Century Evening Sale. Two years and four days later, another 21st Century Evening Sale took place at Christie's New York, and Jean-Michel Basquiat was represented with El Gran Espectaculo (The Nile) from 1983. The three-part work sold for $67.1 million, which was enough for fourth place in 2023.
Related: The Basquiat Boom: His 5 Most Expensive Paintings
3. Claude Monet, Le bassin aux nymphéas, 1919
In 2019, one of Claude Monet's haystack paintings was the most expensive work of art of the auction year, fetching $110.8 million. This year's number three in the annual top 10 could not keep up with that, but the $74 million achieved for Le bassin aux nymphéas made it the top lot that Christie's sold on November 9, 2023 at its 20th Century Evening Sale in New York. Estimates prior to the auction were in the region of $65 million, which was based on both the artist and the subject of the painting, its impeccable condition, and the fact that the large-format work had never been exhibited before or offered at auction.
Related: Monet's $65 Million Water Lilies at Christie's
2. Gustav Klimt, Lady with a Fan, 1917
Gustav Klimt is the artist mentioned in the introduction who made it onto the list of the 10 most expensive paintings of 2023 twice this year. He was represented once in 2022, when Birkenwald (1903) went under the hammer as part of the Paul G. Allen collection. With the record result of $104.6 million, it was the first time that a painting by Klimt was sold at auction for a three-digit million sum in US dollars. But on June 27, 2023 in London, Lady with a fan sold for £85.3 million (about $106.8 million) at Sotheby's Modern & Contemporary Evening Auction. The work, Klimt's last completed portrait before his death, set a new record not only for the artist but also for a painting on the European auction market.
Related: Klimt's Last Portrait Breaks an Auction Record
1. Pablo Picasso, Femme à la montre, 1932
Related: Emily Fisher Landau's $400M Collection Sets New Auction Records
When it comes to the top 10 most expensive paintings of an auction year, Pablo Picasso is definitely one of the usual suspects (he was in first place on the 2021 list as well), but he was completely missing from the 2022 list. This year, however, he came back with a bang and secured first place again with Femme à la montre. The 1932 painting fetched $139.4 million as part of Emily Fisher Landau's collection, which was auctioned off on November 9, 2023 at Sotheby's New York. It is now the second most expensive painting by Picasso ever sold at auction, after Les femmes d'Alger (version “O”), which found a new owner in 2015 for $179.4 million.
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