The Top Fifty Art Works Sold in 2018

Artprice and its CEO thierry Ehrmann are proud to present the 50 greatest artworks sold at auction last year.  In the first half, Modern Art returned to ‘auction leader’ position with two results above the $100 million threshold.

The Art Market’s principal motivation has always been to seek the exceptional and the rare. The quest for strong sensations is an inherent characteristic of its history and its market: by acquiring an artwork, the collector also acquires an extraordinary history.

Collectors are naturally on the lookout for the right work by the right artist at the right time and at the right price, but they are also looking for a story that they relates to. In spite of these ‘search criteria’, the Art Market posts a global average 30% to 35% unsold rate, a key indicator of the Market’s health.

The inescapable processes of selection – indispensable to the Market’s refinement – are at the heart of the Museum Industry, the growth of which represents a genuine revolution in Art History.

Museums have in effect become the Temples of our 21st century: the number of visitors has multiplied by at least ten over the last 20 years. This represents an outstanding growth rate and it has been accompanied by the development of an entertainment market offering all manner of interactivity, derivatives, virtual visits, etc.

In sum, with the museums, the galleries and the auction houses, art has become a vast domain for leisure, discovery, education and curiosity.

Rank; Artist; Artwork; Price ($) 
1; Amedeo MODIGLIANI (1884-1920); Nu couché (sur le côté gauche) (1917); 157,159,000 
2; Pablo PICASSO (1881-1973); Fillette la corbeille fleurie (1905); 115,000,000 
3; Edward HOPPER (1882-1967); Chop Suey (1929); 91,875,000  
4; David HOCKNEY (b. 1937); Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) (1972); 90,312,500  
5; Kasimir MALEVICH (1878-1935); Suprematist Composition (1916); 85,812,500  
6; Claude MONET (1840-1926); Nymphéas en fleur (c.1914-1917); 84,687,500  
7; Henri MATISSE (1869-1954); Odalisque couchée aux magnolias (1923); 80,750,000  
8; Constantin BRANCUSI (1876-1957); La jeune fille sophistiquée  (1928); 71,000,000  
9; Willem DE KOONING (1904-1997); Woman as Landscape (1954-1955); 68,937,500  
10; Pablo PICASSO (1881-1973); Femme au béret et à la robe quadrillée (1937); 68,702,214  
11; ZAO Wou-Ki (1921-2013); Juin-Octobre 1985 (1985); 65,204,489  
12; SU Shi (1037-1101); Wood and rock; 59,206,820  
13; Pablo PICASSO (1881-1973); La Dormeuse (1932); 57,829,046  
14; Jackson POLLOCK (1912-1956); Composition with Red Strokes (1950); 55,437,500  
15; Francis BACON (1909-1992); Study for Portrait (1977); 49,812,500  
16; Jean-Michel BASQUIAT (1960-1988); Flexible (1984); 45,315,000  
17; PAN Tianshou (1897-1971); View From the Peek (1963); 41,392,525  
18; Vincent VAN GOGH (1853-1890); Vue de l’asile et de la Chapelle Saint-Paul de Mausole (1889); 39,687,500  
19; Andy WARHOL (1928-1987); Double Elvis [Ferus Type] (1963); 37,000,000  
20; Pablo PICASSO (1881-1973); Le repos (1932); 36,920,500  
21; Pablo PICASSO (1881-1973); Buste de femme de profil (Femme écrivant) (1932); 35,974,916  
22; Mark ROTHKO (1903-1970); Untitled (Rust, Blacks on Plum) (1962); 35,712,500  
23; Paul GAUGUIN (1848-1903); La Vague (1888); 35,187,500  
24; Jackson POLLOCK (1912-1956); Number 32, 1949 (1949); 34,098,000  
25; Georges Pierre SEURAT (1859-1891); La rade de Grandcamp (Le port de Grandcamp) (1885); 34,062,500  
26; Claude MONET (1840-1926); La Gare Saint-Lazare, vue extérieure (1877); 32,960,961  
27; Claude MONET (1840-1926); Extérieur de la gare Saint-Lazare, effet de soleil (1877); 32,937,500  
28; Gerhard RICHTER (b. 1932); Abstraktes Bild (1987); 32,000,000  
29; Juan GRIS (1887-1927); La table de musicien (1914); 31,812,500  
30; Claude MONET (1840-1926); Le bassin aux nymphéas (1917-1919); 31,812,500  
31; Andy WARHOL (1928-1987); Six Self Portraits (1986); 31,414,491  
32; Jean-Michel BASQUIAT (1960-1988); Flesh And Spirit (1982/83); 30,711,000  
33; Mark ROTHKO (1903-1970); No. 7 (Dark Over Light) (1954); 30,687,500  
34; Lucian FREUD (1922-2011); Portrait on a White Cover (2002/03); 29,732,780  
35; Pablo PICASSO (1881-1973); La Lampe (1931); 29,562,500  
36; David HOCKNEY (b. 1937); Pacific Coast Highway and Santa Monica (1990); 28,453,000  
37; Andy WARHOL (1928-1987); Most Wanted Men No. 11, John Joseph H., Jr (1964); 28,437,500  
38; Ren MAGRITTE (1898-1967); Le principe du plaisir (1937); 26,830,500  
39; Francis BACON (1909-1992); Figure in Movement (1972); 25,918,362 
40; Jean-Michel BASQUIAT (1960-1988); Untitled (Pollo Frito) (1982); 25,701,500  
41; Pablo PICASSO (1881-1973); Femme dans un fauteuil (Dora Maar) (1942); 25,539,921 
42; Egon SCHIELE (1890-1918); Dämmernde stadt (Die kleine stadt ii) (1913); 24,572,500  
43; Wassily KANDINSKY (1866-1944); Improvisation auf mahagoni (1910); 24,233,800  
44; Richard DIEBENKORN (1922-1993); Ocean Park #126 (1984); 23,937,500  
45; ZAO Wou-Ki (1921-2013); Et la terre était sans forme (1956-1957); 23,305,301  
46; Wassily KANDINSKY (1866-1944); Zum thema jngstes gericht (1913); 22,879,000  
47; Jeff KOONS (b. 1955); Play-Doh (1994-2014); 22,812,500  
48; Pablo PICASSO (1881-1973); Le matador (1970); 22,780,091  
49; Joan MIRO (1893-1983); Femme dans la nuit (1945); 22,590,000  
50; Richard DIEBENKORN (1922-1993); Ocean Park #137 (1985); 22,587,500