Resolution Criteria

This market resolves YES for the five specific artists highest on the list of most expensive paintings sold (by hammer price or final sale price including buyer's premium). Resolution will be determined by consulting authoritative art market sources including Guinness World Records, major auction house records (Christie's, Sotheby's), established art market databases, and news reports. The list will be ordered by inflation-adjusted prices in 2025 USD. If an artist appears twice in the top five list, then the sixth on the list will resolve YES (and so on). I will use my own judgment in the case of estimated prices or ranges of estimated prices for reported private sales.

Background

Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, and Andy Warhol are the best-represented artists in the list of most expensive paintings. Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi holds the record at $450,312,500, sold at Christie's in New York on November 15, 2017. Gustav Klimt's Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer sold for US$236 million in November 2025, making it the second-most expensive painting ever sold at auction. Other artists with multiple entries in the top rankings include Andy Warhol, whose Shot Sage Blue Marilyn sold for just over $195 million in 2022, and Mark Rothko, whose No. 6 (Violet, Green and Red) sold for $186 million.

Considerations

The composition of the top 10 most expensive paintings list has remained relatively stable, with only occasional shifts when major works enter the market. The Klimt sale marked the first shake-up of the top 10 auction sales for paintings in two years. Additionally, the list is incomplete with respect to sales between private parties, as these are not always reported and details like purchase price may remain secret, meaning some extremely high-value sales may not be reflected in public records.

This description was generated by AI and edited by the market creator.