The most expensive paintings in the world sold in 2021

Among the works sold for the largest amounts at world auctions in 2021 year. Works by Picasso, Basquiat, Van Gogh, Rothko, Botticelli, Giacometti, Beeple and others. These are artists whose works were the most expensive paintings in the world sold in 2021.

The Bloomberg portal published the ten most expensive works of art sold at auction in 2021. Together, these ten entries earned $781 million including Buyer’s Premium commission. The list turned out to be varied – from the old master Botticelli to the impressionist Monet. From the post-war classics Rothko and Pollock to Jean-Michel Basquiat. And of course, not without Pablo Picasso, whose work opens the rating.

Without waiting for anything, we are in a hurry to discuss the 10 most expensive paintings sold in 2021.

$ 103.4 million Pablo Picasso Girl sitting at the window (Marie-Therese). 1932

The top ten most expensive lots of the year is Pablo Picasso’s “Girl Sitting at the Window (Marie-Thérèse)” 1932. This work is a perfect example of how only two bidders can swing the auction price. At the Christie’s auction on May 13, 2021, many bidders’s initially argued for the lot. But they stopped at $60 million. From this point on, the auction went on only between two bidders who did not want to stop up to $90 million. And the commission helped the final price of the lot exceed $100 million. Making Picasso the only one in 2021 to do so.

The last time “Woman sitting at the window” was put up for auction in February 2013. Then it was sold for £28.6 million ($44.8 million with a commission) at Sotheby’s London auction to an anonymous collector. Who agreed to make an irrevocable bid in the amount of the lower estimate even before the auction began. Apparently, only this buyer did this. According to the Artnet database, the work first appeared at Christie’s in New York, where it sold for $6.8 million ($7.5 million with commission) in 1997. The painting was recently exhibited at the Picasso 1932 exhibition, which was held at the Picasso Museum in Paris and the Tate Modern in London in 2017-2018.

$93.1 million Jean-Michel Basquiat In This Case (In this case). 1983

The market for the works of Jean-Michel Basquiat is in a stage of active growth. His work goes equally well in New York and Hong Kong. Dealers admit that the works are sold 3-4 times more expensive than they paid for them a few years ago. Basquiat’s painting “In This Case (In This Case)” was exhibited at Christie’s evening auction on May 11, 2021 and was sold for almost twice the estimate – for $93.1 million with a commission. The result was the second in the auction statistics of the artist.

It is noted that the image of the skull is a key motif in the work of Jean-Michel Basquiat. According to experts at Christie’s, for a black artist, the skull was “a metaphor for the past and the transient nature of human life,” while serving as “a symbol of the dangers that await young African Americans on the streets of New York.”

$92.2 million Sandro BOTTICELLI Portrait of a young man with a medallion. (circa 1480)

The only work by a non-modernist and non-modernist artist that made it into the top ten lots of 2021 is Portrait of a Young Man with a Medallion by Sandro Botticelli. Before the auction, there were many rumors about how much this Renaissance masterpiece could go from auction, the rates reached $ 200 million. But there was no sensation. However, the price of $92.2 million, achieved by the portrait at Sotheby’s on January 28, 2021, still became a record for Botticelli.

Portrait of a Young Man with a Medallion became the most expensive old master work sold at Sotheby’s and the second most expensive old master work. Of masters sold at auction, after the “Savior of the World” by Leonardo da Vinci, sold in 2017 for $450 millions at auction at Christie’s. The portrait is believed to have been painted in the late 1470s or early 1480s. It was bought by its previous owner in 1982 for just £810,000. The painting’s current sale comes ahead of a blockbuster Botticelli exhibition due to open in September 2021 at the Musée Jacquemart-André in Paris. The sale of the portrait has updated the auction price record for a Botticelli work. The previous record was $10.4 million, which was paid in 2013 for the painting “Madonna and Child with Young John the Baptist” (Rockefeller Madonna) at Christie’s auction.

$82.5 million Mark ROTKO No. 7. 1951

A nine-figure result was expected from Mark Rothko’s painting No. 7 painting by Mark Rothko in his auction statistics. According to Sotheby’s, the painting went to a certain client from Asia.

“No. 7” is one of the works of famous artists, auctioned from the Macklow collection, created over 45 years by American real estate tycoon Harry Macklow and his wife Linda. In 2018, during the couple’s divorce, a judge in New York decided that the art collection should be sold and the proceeds split.

$78.4 million Alberto GIACOMETTI Nos. Cast 1965

The Nose sculpture by Alberto Giacometti also comes from the collection of Harry and Linda Macklow, which was on sale at Sotheby’s on November 15, 2021. The only sculpture in the ranking has a rather unexpected buyer: after the auction, it soon became clear that crypto billionaire Justin Sun paid $78.4 million for Giacometti.

$71.35 million Vincent VAN GOGH Wooden huts among olive trees and cypresses. 1889

No matter what they say about the fact that the fashion for the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists is leaving, Vincent van Gogh remains one of the most desirable and sought-after authors for collectors. At Christie’s auction on November 11, 2021, where works from the collection of Texas oil tycoon Edwin L. Cox were exhibited , at least seven applicants entered the fight for Vincent van Gogh’s painting “Wooden Huts Among Olive Trees and Cypresses”. The painting was eventually purchased for $71.35 million. Taking into account the commission when assessed in the region of $40 million.

The image of olive trees is extremely characteristic of Van Gogh’s late work.

 In one of his letters to Theo, there are such lines: “… The olives here are extremely characteristic, and I try my best to convey this. They, these silvery trees, sometimes bluish, sometimes greenish-bronze, turn white on the ground – yellow, pink, purple or orange, down to a dull red ocher. The plot is difficult, very difficult! <…> And one day I will express something personal with them, as I did with the yellow color in Sunflowers.

$70.4 million Claude MONE A pond with water lilies. 1917–1919

The works of Claude Monet often do not make much impression when viewed in small resolution from a computer screen. But amaze the imagination if you see them live. The two-meter canvas “Pond with Water Lilies”, apparently. Is just one of such works: at the auction of the Impressionists and Modernists at Sotheby’s on May 12, 2021, they paid $ 70.4 million for it, with an estimate of $ 40 million.

$69.3 million BEEPLE Everyday: First 5,000 days. 2013

On the 8th line of the ranking of the most expensive works of art in 2021 flaunts. The first non-fungible collage put up by the conservative auction house Christie’s. For NFT fans, history was made on May 11, 2021. When the collage of digital artist Mike Winkelman, working under the pseudonym Beeple, was sold for $69.3 million. True, the transaction was carried out in a volatile cryptocurrency, not in dollars. And yet, the demand for tokens after this sale jumped and continues to grow rapidly.

The artist worked on this work for 5,000 days, that is, about 13 years. In May 2007, he began to create one digital painting every day, starting with simple drawings and ending with 3D graphics. And in the final he combined all the works created over the years into a single whole.

The monumental collage reflects Winkelmann’s development as an artist. Presents abstract images, experiments with color and form, as well as the author’s vision of pop culture heroes, the auction house experts said.

In the picture you can see cartoon characters, former US President Donald Trump, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, singer Michael Jackson. US Vice Presidents Michael Pence with a fly on his head and Kamala Harris.

$61.2 million Jackson Pollock Number 17, 1951. 1951

Paintings by Jackson Pollock, called “dripping” for the technique invented by the artist of splashing paint on canvas, rarely go to public auction. Most of the work is already in museums and private collections. Therefore, when the black-and-white abstraction “Number 17, 1951” appeared at the auction, it easily overcame the estimate of $35 million and bought in the end for $61.2 million.

$58.9 million Cy TWOMBLEY Untitled. 2007

Closes the top ten most expensive auction lots in 2021 is the abstract “Untitled” (2007) by Cy Twombly. The work sold at the already mentioned auctions of the Macklow collection. And generally performed well: at an estimate of $ 40–60 million, the work bought for $ 58.9 million.

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