From time to time, the media haunt the public with reports of record amounts paid for a work of art. And the most expensive picture for a while becomes the main news in the world media.
The correctness of the question about the most valuable painting is doubtful, but one of the answers to it may be this: the record amount paid for the painting in the middle of summer 2015 is $ 300 million. At the end of February this year, the family of the Swiss collector Rudolf Shteikhlin received them for Paul Gauguin's painting “When is the wedding?”
Paul Gauguin, “When is the Wedding?” (1891) - 300 million
Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) has been searching for an earthly paradise all his life, not spoiled by modern civilization. At first it seemed to him that he had found him on the islands of Oceania, in Tahiti. He was an important person for the islanders, he was married to the 13-year-old beauty Tekhaaman, who became the model for many of the master’s paintings - he portrayed his future wife and her friend in the picture “When is the wedding?” (1892). Gauguin did not find paradise in Tahiti, ending his life in disease and poverty, but having a tremendous impact on the world of fine art.
The royal family of Qatar has allocated more than a billion dollars to the museum department of Qatar to create a collection of European painting, and in 2016, Gauguin’s canvas, the most expensive painting bought at a private auction, will finally become the property of the Qatar Museum. Part of the allocated funds - 274 million - was spent in 2011 on the "Players in Cards" by Paul Cezanne, which was a record until 2015.
Paul Cezanne, “Card Players" (1892) - 274 million
From 1890 to 1895, Cezanne created a cycle of five paintings that depicted different moments of the card game. The paintings of the great Frenchman, who had a tremendous influence on every notable artist of the 20th century, the master, who was called the forerunner of the avant-garde, in particular Cubism, have always been especially appreciated by collectors of private and state collections.
By 2011, only one of the five paintings in the cycle remained in a private collection, and she entered the top of the most expensive paintings in the world after a deal with proxies of the Qatari emir.
Mark Rothko, "No. 6. Purple, Green, Red" (1951) - 186 million
He was born in 1903 in a small town on the Baltic outskirts of the Russian Empire, and Yiddish was spoken in the family. When Mark was only 10 years old, their family emigrated to the United States, and he spent his whole life in America. There, his work became a symbol of new painting, abstract expressionism. From the canvases figurativeness disappeared, the peak of Rothko’s work was “a simple expression of a complex thought” - huge compositions from color fields, one of which in 2010 became known as Rothko’s most expensive painting.
The buyer is considered Russian billionaire D. Rybolovlev, and he soon initiated a process against the seller - the famous art dealer Yves Bouvier. The main complaint against the businessman, known for his uncleanliness, was an exorbitant overvaluation. Indeed, the photo of the most expensive painting in the world (at that time) was perplexing, especially for those who are little interested in the modern trends of fine art. The muddy stories around Rothko's conceptual creations are called symbolic: the artist committed suicide in 1970 after a difficult divorce and an incurable disease that began.
Pablo Picasso, “Algerian Women, Version O” (1955) - 179 million
Among the artists whose works are listed in the top of the most expensive paintings in history, Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) occupies a special place.For a long life full of high inspiration, he created a huge number of paintings, drawings, sculptures, but any slightest sketch made by the ingenious hand of the founder of Cubism has always been the subject of desire of private collectors and state museums located around the world.
In 1954-55, the master wrote a series of “Algerian women” of 15 paintings, which he designated with letters from A to O, and the latest picture of this cycle was recognized as its apotheosis, culmination. Today it is the most expensive painting by Picasso. This thing of the great avant-garde was one of his most significant creations, remaining in private possession. In it, Picasso paid tribute to all the great painters whom he admired the wonderful world of the East: Rubens, E. Delacroix, Matisse and many others.
Sold in May 2015 at CHRISTIE'S auction, this masterpiece of the most famous artist of the 20th century is the most expensive painting in the world that has left open auction.
Jackson Pollock, "No. 5" (1948) - 165 million
Regarding the work of Jackson Pollock (1912-1956), critics and artists were instantly divided into two irreconcilable camps. For some, he is a symbol of the death of painting as a phenomenon of art, they considered his composition to be a product of chance, which excluded the role of the artist - creator. Others made him the leader and banner of abstract expressionism - the leading trend in non-figurative painting. Even in the most chaotic paintings by the method of applying colors, they saw a deep meaning, which the artist himself insisted on.
A sheet of fiberboard, still the standard in the production of sheet building materials, splattered and stained with paint - this is how the most expensive contemporary paintings looked like for a long time. "No. 5" became a work of art, around which a lot of omissions were formed, it hid from the public for a long time and was put up for auction when Pollock’s things became a rarity for collectors. The fact of the purchase and the amount paid is shrouded in mystery - everything is not fully confirmed by the parties to the transaction: the famous Hollywood producer David Geffen and the mysterious Mexican collector.
Willem de Cunning, Woman III (1951-1953) - $ 162.4 million
The Dutch painter and sculptor Willem de Kooning (1904-1997) is another bright representative of abstract expressionism, an iconic figure of the artistic avant-garde of the twentieth century. His painting retained a figurative content for a long time, but the images of people became familiar, an object to which the viewer attached his special meaning, attracted exclusively by the emotional technique of painting.
The canvas from the cycle dedicated to the image of naked female nature, by the will of fate, turned out to be in the Museum of Modern Art in Tehran. The 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran underwent a review, including the exposition of this museum.
The picture of the Dutch avant-garde did not fit into the canons prescribed by the supporters of Ayatollah Khomeini, and until 1994 it lay in distant stores. David Geffen bought the masterpiece of de Cunning and bought it from Iran. In 2006, it was sold and entered the list, which lists the most expensive paintings of artists - avant-garde artists of the XX century.
Pablo Picasso, The Dream (1932) - 158.5 million
The largest collector of Wall Street, Stephen Cohen, agreed to buy this canvas with its previous owner - Steve Winnie - back in 2006. 
Winnie, who owned the casino, severely damaged the canvas as a result of an accident, and the deal took place only 7 years later, after a thorough restoration of this amazingly beautiful work.
Gustav Klimt, “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I” (1907) - 158.4 million
If the plot required a male image, he hid or hid his face - for Gustav Klimt (1862-1918), the main theme in art and the subject of worship in life was a woman. The Austrian master left a huge mark in one of the most refined and harmonious styles - modernism of the beginning of the XX century, its brightest variety - the Vienna Secession.Klimt is the author of paintings that posed a challenge to the public morality of that time, who did not hide the deep admiration of the woman behind the amazing decorative effect.
“Austrian Mona Lisa”, “Golden Adele” - this is what this fantastic picture was called. It refers to the "golden" period of the artist's work and is considered by many to be his highest achievement. The story of the canvas is dramatic. After Austria was annexed by the Nazis, the canvas was expropriated as part of the entire fortune of Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer - the husband depicted in the portrait of Adele, who fled to Switzerland. Only in 2005, his heiress - Maria Altman's niece - managed to return the portrait of her aunt to her property among five paintings, the total cost of which was astronomical. "Golden Adele" of them is the most expensive picture. In the world there are few things more appropriate to the name.
