Most Expensive Paintings Sold at Auction (All Time)

About This Dataset

Artworks ranked by hammer price at public auction in millions of USD. Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi achieved the highest price ever paid for a painting at auction when it sold at Christie's New York in 2017 for $450.3 million — more than double the previous record and a sale that ignited global debate about the work's attribution and authenticity.

Analysis

The top three in Auction Price (Million USD) in 2022 are Salvator Mundi (Da Vinci) (450.3), Shot Sage Blue Marilyn (Warhol) (195) and Les Femmes d'Alger (Picasso) (179.4). The 8 entries cover a range of 363.4, from 450.3 down to 86.9. Most of that gap is between first and second alone (255.3 of 363.4); the other 7 are separated by just 108.1. The other 6 are bunched between 86.9 and 179.4.

Source: Wikipedia

Key Findings

🏆

Salvator Mundi (Da Vinci) leads in Auction Price (Million USD) with 450.30 in 2022.

📅

2017 recorded the highest combined total across all categories.

↔️

Gap in 2022: Salvator Mundi (Da Vinci) is 5.2× larger than Orange, Red, Yellow (Rothko).

Most Expensive Paintings Sold at Auction (All Time)

Bar

H-Bar

Line

Area

🗺 Map

Table

Data Insights Below

Data Insights

Numbers, trends & sources behind this chart

Admin

⬡

Data Points

8 categories · 6 years

↑

Top Value

450.30

Salvator Mundi (Da Vinci)

Auction Price (Million USD) · 2017

◈

Metrics

Auction Price (Million USD)

◷

Period

2004 – 2022

6 years of data

Methodology & source

Data source: Wikipedia
Coverage: 8 entities · 2004–2022 (6 years) · 8 observations
Measure: Auction Price (Million USD)
Last updated: 6 September 2026
Compiled by: The ANYSTAT team, from the source above

How the figures are calculated

Values are shown as reported by the source. Nothing is rescaled, rebased or converted — the only changes are thousand separators and decimals shown to two places.
Missing years are left empty rather than estimated — no interpolation, no carrying a previous year forward.
Change is measured between the first and last year in which an entity actually reported a value, so a series that starts late is not penalised for the years before it existed.
The compound annual rate is (last ÷ first)^(1 ÷ years) − 1, using those same two reported years.
Entities are ranked highest-first on their value in 2022.
An entity that reported nothing in the latest year is still listed — it follows the ranked entities in the table rather than being dropped.

Rankings & Full Data

8 records · Auction Price (Million USD) · ranked by 2022

✓ 8 sourced

#	Category	2004	2012	2013	2015	2017	2022	Change
🥇	Salvator Mundi (Da Vinci)	—	—	—	—	450.30	—	—
🥈	Shot Sage Blue Marilyn (Warhol)	—	—	—	—	—	195	—
🥉	Les Femmes d'Alger (Picasso)	—	—	—	179.40	—	—	—
4	Nu couche (Modigliani)	—	—	—	170.40	—	—	—
5	Three Studies of Lucian Freud (Bacon)	—	—	142.40	—	—	—	—
6	The Scream (Munch)	—	119.90	—	—	—	—	—
7	Boy with a Pipe (Picasso)	104.20	—	—	—	—	—	—
8	Orange, Red, Yellow (Rothko)	—	86.90	—	—	—	—	—