List of most expensive artworks by living artists explained

The highest known price paid for an artwork by a living artist was for Jasper Johns's 1958 painting Flag. Its 2010 private sale price was estimated to be about US$110 million ($ million in dollars).

All-time

This is a list of highest prices ever paid—at auction or private sale—for an artwork by an artist living at time of sale.

!Adjusted price(in millions of USD)!Original price(in millions of USD)!Work!Artist!Date!Venue!Ref.

	110	Flag			Private sale	^[1]
	91.1	Rabbit			Christie's	^[2] ^[3]
	90.3	Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)			Christie's	^[4]
	80	False Start			Private sale	^[5]
62	62	The Journey of Humanity	Sacha Jafri		Humanity Inspired Royal Charity Auction, Dubai	^[6] ^[7]
	58.4	Balloon Dog (Orange)			Christie's	^[8]

Progressive auction sales records

This is a list of progressive records of the highest price ever paid at auction for the work of an artist who was living at time of sale. As a progressive record listing, it only lists auctions records that topple the previous best. The current record price is US$91 million for Jeff Koons's 1986 sculpture, Rabbit, set in 2019. The current record price for a painting is $90 million for David Hockney's 1972 Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures), set the prior year.

!Adjusted price(in millions of USD)!Original price(in millions of USD)!Work!Artist!Date!Auctionhouse!Ref.

91.82	91.1	Rabbit			Christie's
92.48	90.3	Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)			Christie's
64.68	58.4	Balloon Dog (Orange)			Christie's
41.11	37.1	Domplatz, Mailand			Sotheby's	^[9]
38.16	34.2	Abstraktes Bild (809-4) (1994)			Sotheby's	^[10]
40.03	33.6	Benefits Supervisor Sleeping			Christie's	^[11]
28.98	23.6	Hanging Heart (Magenta/Gold)			Sotheby's	^[12]
23.91	19.3	Lullaby Spring			Sotheby's	^[13]
36.48	17	False Start			Sotheby's	^[14]
15.02	7	White Flag			Christie's	^[15]
9.18	4.18	Diver			Christie's	^[16]
8.28	3.63 (tied)	Pink Lady			Sotheby's	^[17]
8.49	3.63 (tied)	Out the Window			Sotheby's	^[18]
3.23	1.2	Two Women			Christie's	^[19]
2.19	0.8	L'Enigme du Desir/Ma Mere, Ma Mere, Ma Mere			Christie's	^[20]
4.13	0.53	Mother and Child			Sotheby's	^[21] ^[22]
1.88	0.22	Death of Harlequin/Woman in a Garden			Sotheby's	^[23] ^[24]
1.34	0.15 (tied)	La Belle Hollandaise			Sotheby's	^[25] ^[26]
1.34	0.15 (tied)	Mother and Child			Sotheby's	^[27]
	0.066	Friedland, 1807			Stewart estate sale	^[28] ^[29]
	0.045	Les Communiantes			Mary J. Morgan estate sale	^[30] ^[31]

Private sales

• Jasper Johns's 1958 Flag painting was sold by Steven A. Cohen to Jean-Christophe Castelli for ca $110 million in 2010 ($ million in dollars).^[1]
• Damien Hirst's For the Love of God (2007), composed of diamond and platinum, was privately acquired by a consortium, which included the artist himself, in August 2007 for $100 million – equivalent to approximately $141 million when adjusted for inflation to 2022 values.
• Another Jasper Johns painting, False Start (1959), was sold by Kenneth C. Griffin to David Geffen on October 12, 2006, for a then record $80 million.($ million in dollars)^[32]
• The Whitney Museum of American Art privately^[33] purchased Jasper Johns's Three Flags in 1980 for $1 million ($ million in dollars), then a record price for a living artist.^{[34] [35]}
• In 1967, citizens of Basel, Switzerland, raised nearly $2 million to buy two Picasso paintings for their Kunstmuseum Basel.^[36]
• In 1890,, owner of the Grands Magasins du Louvre department store, purchased Ernest Meissonier's 1814 The Campaign of France from a banker for 850,000 Fr (US$162,000 in 1890; equivalent to $ million in), the highest price for a painting by an artist alive or dead.^[37]

See also

• List of most expensive paintings
• List of most expensive sculptures
• List of most expensive photographs
• List of most expensive books and manuscripts
• List of most expensive non-fungible tokens

Notes and References

1. News: Planting a Johns 'Flag' in a Private Collection . Carol . Vogel . The New York Times . March 18, 2010 .
2. News: Reyburn . Scott . Jeff Koons Rabbit Sets Auction Record for Most Expensive Work by Living Artist . . 2019-05-16 . en-US . 0362-4331 . mdy-all .
3. Web site: The 10 Moments That Defined Art in the 2010s . . 2019-12-16 . en . 2019-12-29 . mdy-all .
4. News: Reyburn . Scott . Pogrebin . Robin . David Hockney Painting Sells for $90 Million, Smashing Record for Living Artist . . 2018-11-16 . en-US . 0362-4331 . mdy-all . May 16, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190403110019/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/15/arts/design/david-hockney-christies-portrait-of-an-artist-jeff-koons.html . April 3, 2019 . live .
5. News: Vogel . Carol . Works by Johns and de Kooning Sell for $143.5 Million . . 2006-10-12 . en-US . 0362-4331 . mdy-all .
6. https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2021/mar/24/british-artist-sells-worlds-largest-painting-the-journey-of-humanity-for-62m British artist sells world's largest painting The Journey of Humanity for $62m
7. Sophie Prideaux, World's largest painting created in Dubai by Sacha Jafri sells for record-breaking $62 million, The National, March 23, 2021
8. News: Vogel . Carol . At $142.4 Million, Triptych Is the Most Expensive Artwork Ever Sold at an Auction . . 2018-10-19 . en-US . 0362-4331 . mdy-all . May 16, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190401110459/https://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/13/arts/design/bacons-study-of-freud-sells-for-more-than-142-million.html . April 1, 2019 . live .
9. News: Richter painting breaks record . . 2013-05-15 . en-GB . mdy-all . May 16, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190425015103/https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-22538258 . April 25, 2019 . live .
10. News: Ng . David . Gerhard Richter painting owned by Eric Clapton sets auction record . . 2012-10-15 . en-US . 0458-3035 . mdy-all . May 16, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190516152620/https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-xpm-2012-oct-15-la-et-cm--gerhard-richter-eric-clapton-sothebys-auction-record-20121014-story.html . May 16, 2019 . live .
11. News: Gelder . Lawrence Van . The Mystery Art Buyer . . 2008-05-19 . en-US . 0362-4331 . mdy-all . May 16, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190507075625/https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/19/arts/design/19arts-THEMYSTERYAR_BRF.html . May 7, 2019 . live .
12. Web site: Gleadell . Colin . Sothebys Scores Its Highest-Ever $316M Contemporary Auction . . 2007-11-26 . en-US . 2019-05-16 . mdy-all . https://web.archive.org/web/20181120221237/http://www.artnews.com/2007/11/26/sothebys-scores-its-highest-ever-316m-contemporary-auction/ . November 20, 2018 . live.
13. Web site: Holmes . Pernilla . The Branding of Damien Hirst . . 2007-10-01 . en-US . 2019-05-16 . mdy-all . https://web.archive.org/web/20160601053552/http://www.artnews.com/2007/10/01/the-branding-of-damien-hirst/ . June 1, 2016 . live .
14. News: Reif . Rita . Jasper Johns Painting Is Sold for $17 Million . . 1988-11-11 . subscription . en-US . 0362-4331 . mdy-all . Johns's "False Start" was sold for $10 million more than his "White Flag" had brought at Christie's, establishing a new high for a work by a living artist. . May 16, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190402062431/https://www.nytimes.com/1988/11/11/arts/jasper-johns-painting-is-sold-for-17-million.html . April 2, 2019 . live .
15. News: Reif . Rita . Johns's 'White Flag' Is Sold for Record Price . . 1988-11-10 . subscription . en-US . 0362-4331 . mdy-all . Jasper Johns's ghostlike "White Flag," ... was sold last night at Christie's for $7 million, the highest price ever paid for a work by a living artist. . May 16, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190427125538/https://www.nytimes.com/1988/11/10/arts/johns-s-white-flag-is-sold-for-record-price.html . April 27, 2019 . live .
16. News: Buyer of Johns Painting . . 1988-05-09 . en-US . 0362-4331 . mdy-all . ... Jasper Johns's fiercely compelling Diver, from 1962, which brought $4.2 million last Tuesday at Christie's, ... was an auction record for a work by any living artist. . May 16, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150525083927/http://www.nytimes.com/1988/05/09/arts/buyer-of-johns-painting.html . May 25, 2015 . live .
17. News: Reif . Rita . De Kooning Painting Ties Auction Record . . 1987-05-05 . en-US . 0362-4331 . mdy-all . Willem de Kooning's 'Pink Lady' from 1944 tied the record at auction for a contemporary painting and for a work by a living artist when it was sold last night for $3.63 million at Sotheby's..
18. News: Reif . Rita . Jasper Johns Painting Brings Record Price . . 1986-11-11 . en-US . 0362-4331 . mdy-all . Jasper Johns's boldly colored and Expressionistic 'Out the Window,' from 1959, was sold last night for the highest price ever paid at auction for a work by a living artist ....
19. Carter . E. Graydon . People . . 121 . 21 . 51 . 1983-05-23 . 0040-781X . . mdy-all . At Christie's in New York City last week, the house applauded enthusiastically as the gavel went down on Abstract Expressionist Willem de Kooning's Two Women. Reason: a price of $1.2 million, the most money paid for a work by a living artist..
20. News: Dali's 'Mere' Sets Auction Record . . 1982-03-31 . en-US . 0362-4331 . mdy-all . Christie's, the auctioneer, said the price for 'Ma Mere,' French for 'My Mother,' was a record auction figure for a living artist..
21. News: 0362-4331. 1, 19. Picasso Brings Record $532,000; Price at Sotheby's Is Highest for Work by Living Artist. The New York Times. 2019-12-27 . mdy-all . 1967-04-27. A Picasso painting brought the highest price ever paid for a work by a living artist. ... At Sotheby & Co., $532,000 was paid for an early Picasso, a 1902 'Mother and Child,' of the artist's Blue Period. ... The Picasso ran far ahead of the former record-holder, 'Death of Harlequin,' which brought $198,000 at Sotheby's in 1962. ... It was pointed out that possibly more may have been paid at a private sale for a work by the Spanish master..
22. 0040-781X. 89. 18. 60. Price of a Picasso. Time Magazine. 1967-05-05 . mdy-all . At Sotheby's auction house last week, Picasso's down-and-out souvenir, Mother and Child by the Sea, brought the highest price ever paid for a work by a living artist: $532,000, more than double the previous record, also held by Picasso, whose Death of Harlequin sold in 1962 for $224,000. .
23. News: 0362-4331. 53. Reif. Rita. 42 Artworks Collected by Paul Mellon to Be Sold. The New York Times. 2019-12-27. 1989-08-08 . mdy-all . Picasso's 'Death of Harlequin' from 1905 sold for $224,000, a record at auction for a work by a living artist, at a much publicized 1962 auction of W. Somerset Maugham's collection at Sotheby's in London..
24. 0040-781X. 79. 16. 76. Master Auctioneer. Time Magazine. 2019-12-27. 1962-04-20. mdy-all . The 35 paintings went for $1,466,864, including $244,000—the highest price ever paid at auction for a living artist—for a Picasso curiosity that showed The Death of Harlequin on one side and Woman Seated in a Garden on the other..
25. News: 0362-4331. In Our Pages: 100, 75, 50 Years Ago. The New York Times. 2019-12-27. 2009-05-06. mdy-all . A painting of a nude Dutch girl ... was auctioned off here today for £55,000 ($154,000) — the highest bid ever made anywhere for the work of a living artist. ... 'La Belle Hollandaise,' ... The latest sale bested the record brought by another Picasso, 'Mother and Child,' according to Sotheby's..
26. "Auction Records Broken in London: A Picasso Sold for £55, 000." Illustrated London News, May 16, 1959, p. 835. "... at Sotheby's on May 6, an early Picasso nude... was sold ... for £55,000, the highest price ever paid in an auction room for the work of a living artist. Prior to this the record had been held by another Picasso, a Mother and Child, which was sold last November in New York for £54,000.
27. News: 0362-4331. 1. Saarinen. Aline B.. Auction of Art Brings $1,548,500: 1903 Picasso Sells for $152,000—Gallery Filled by 2,000. . 1958-11-20. . The top price of $152,000 was paid... for a 1903 Picasso, 'Mother and Child.' It is a record price for a Picasso sold at auction..
28. M'Cormick . William B. . The Million Dollar Picture: Will It Ever Arrive? . Arts & Decoration . 3 . 9 . 306–307 . July 1913 . In 1887 the world of art was astonished when Judge Hilton, of New York City, paid $66,000 for Meissonier's Friedland—1807, at the sale of the A. T. Stewart collection in Chickering Hall. That was the highest price ever paid for a painting at public sale anywhere in the world up to that time..
29. Tyrrell . Henry . Bulling the Art Market: Million Dollars Worth of Meissoniers . The Scrap Book . 6 . 3 . 438 . September 1908 .
30. Lettres, sciences, arts: Encyclopédie universelle du XXe siècle. 1908. 3: 85. "... les Communiantes (Salon de 1884): 227,500 fr. C'est l'enchère la plus considèrable qui ait été atteinte jusqu'alors par un tableau d'artiste vivant"
31. Methodist Magazine. January 1901. p. 81: "For the painting of 'The First Communion,' by Breton, [Lord Strathcona] paid the sum of $45,000, the highest price, it is said, ever paid for a modern picture sold at auction."
32. Carol Vogel, Works by Johns and de Kooning Sell for $143.5 Million, The New York Times, October 12, 2006
33. News: Muchnic . Suzanne . Is Jasper Johns New Van Gogh of the Art Market? . . 1988-02-19 . en-US . 0458-3035 . mdy-all . Johns' works bring high prices in private sales too. The Whitney Museum of American Art in 1980 paid $1 million--a stunning price at the time--for his "Three Flags" painting in a private transaction..
34. News: Vogel . Carol . The Gray Areas of Jasper Johns . . 2008-02-03 . en-US . 0362-4331 . mdy-all . May 16, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180622192838/https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/03/arts/design/03voge.html . June 22, 2018 . live .
35. Book: Biddle, Flora Miller. The Whitney Women and the Museum They Made: A Family Memoir. 2017. Skyhorse. 978-1-62872-809-5. 381.
36. https://books.google.com/books?id=rlIEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA120 LIFE Dec 27, 1968, p. 120
37. Book: King, Ross. The Judgment of Paris: The Revolutionary Decade that Gave the World Impressionism. 2009. Bloomsbury Publishing. 978-0-8027-1841-9. 370. In 1890, the year before Meissonier's death, Alfred Chauchard, owner of the Grands Magasins du Louvre, an enormous department store in the Rue de Rivoli, paid a staggering 850,000 francs when The Campaign of France, formerly owned by Gaston Delahante, came onto the market. ... This stratospheric price made The Campaign of France the most expensive painting ever purchased during the nineteenth century, by a painter either living or dead..