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The most expensive works of art sold at auction in 2021: the ranking
10/01/2022

The most expensive works of art sold at auction in 2021: the ranking

by Giulia De Sanctis

In a year still affected by the logistical crises imposed by the pandemic, the international auctions didn’t stop. Rarity, conditions, and origins continue to be the key factors of the highest class of the art market, with great classics and new entries.

But what were the most expensive works of art auctioned off in 2021?
Between artworks based on NFT and rare treasures of the collection of divorcées Harry and Linda Macklowe, let’s see together the 10 most expensive lots of 2021.



Pablo Picasso, Femme assise près d’une fenêtre (Marie-Thérèse), 1932


The Spanish artist at Christie’s in New York crossed the 100$ block with Femme assise près d'une fenêtre - initially estimated at 55 million doubled the valuation reaching to 103.4 million dollars -, thus leading the auctions of 2021 with the most expensive lot and both in terms of overall volume - 657,7 million dollars sold in the first 11 months of the year -. The painting was executed by Picasso in October 1932 and the subject is the profile portrait of his muse Marie-Thérèse Walter, then 22, sitting on an armchair in front of a window.



Jean-Michel Basquiat, In this Case, 1983


2021 was the year of Jean-Michel Basquiat who total up $414.5 million at auction. In this Case, in 1983, sold by the entrepreneur Giancarlo Giammetti, co-founder of the fashion house Valentino. Partly as a memento mori and partly as a portrait, the paintings portraying skulls refer to the origins of Basquiat as a street artist and they are among the most sought-after works of the American artist. This was one of three large-scale versions shown together at the Louis Vuitton Foundation in 2018 - the others are owned by Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa and the Broad Museum in Los Angeles. At Christie’s New York last May, this monumental canvas reached $93.1 million.


Sandro Botticelli, Giovane uomo con in mano una medaglia, 1480 circa


Botticelli’s works aren't auctioned every year, which is why this portrait, Giovane uomo con in mano una medaglia from about 1480, presented by Sotheby’s New York and auctioned off for $92.1 million, was a great event for the art market. Delivered anonymously by billionaire real estate owner Sheldon Solow shortly before his death in November 2020, the work had spent decades on loan to the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.



Mark Rothko, No. 7, 1951


No. 7 by artist Mark Rothko is the first work from the Macklowe collection in the ranking: from the palette, the size and year of execution - 1951, annus mirabilis for the artist - played a key role in the excellent auction price: 82.5 million dollars.


Alberto Giacometti, Le Nez, 1947


This essential sculpture by Alberto Giacometti from the Macklowe Collection was sold for 78.4 million dollars to crypto-billionaire Justin Sun who set himself a goal: to create a link between the NFT world and reality. Le Nez is part of the post-war production of Alberto Giacometti and is the only one of the eight specimens of this work to have ever been auctioned. The work is digitally assimilated to go on display at the APENFT Virtual Museum on CryptoVoxels in the metaverse.


Vincent van Gogh, Cabanes de bois parmi les oliviers et cyprès, 1889


Directly from Christie’s, the Provençal landscape burned by the sun Cabanes de bois parmi les oliviers et cyprès by Vincent Van Gogh made in 1889, from the Cox Collection of oil magnate Edwin Lochridge Cox, was sold for $71.4 million and is now among the five most expensive works sold at the auction of the Dutch impressionist master.


Claude Monet, Le Bassin aux nymphéas, 1917-1919


The rich use of color by Claude Monet makes Le Bassin aux nymphéas of 1917 a prominent piece. It’s been exhibited all over the U.S., from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. A large-scale painting - 100 x 200 cm - is part of the series of water lillies on which Monet focuses from 1914 and some exhibited at the Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris or at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.


Beeple, Everydays: The First 5000 days, 2021


With a starting price of $100, the 100% digital collage The First 5000 days of Beeple sold for $69.3 million, kicked off the climb of the Non-fungible Token in the international auction houses. The buyer is the NFT production studio and Metapurse crypto investment fund in Singapore; it used the sale to promote its own token, which represents the shares of its digital art possessions, including other works by Beeple.


Jackson Pollock, Number 17, 1951


Part of the Macklowe Collection, Number 17 by Jackson Pollock is a sought-after artwork because it isn’t part of the artist’s usual colorful collection, but it is one of the 33 works called Black Pourings - o Black Paintings - to which the artist has dedicated himself since the spring of 1951. With these assumptions the immaculate linen canvas destroyed its estimate of 35 million dollars reaching $ 61.2 million, ousting the Number 19 of 1948 - auctioned at 58.4 million dollars by Christie’s in 2013 -.


Cy Twombly, Untitled, 2007


Untitled by Cy Twombly, part of the Macklowe Collection, belongs to the series A Scattering of Blossoms, created for an exhibition at the Lambert Collection in Avignon in 2007. Inspired by this work is the haiku poem of the seventeenth and Untitled was auctioned for $58.9 million.





After graduating from language high school, love for art led Giulia De Sanctis (Turin, 1998) to obtain Communication and Enhancement of Artistic Heritage’ degree at the Accademia Albertina di Belle Arti in Turin. She collaborated with art galleries in Turin as an assistant, dealing with the cataloging of the works, the preparation of exhibitions and the press office. She collaborates actively with various magazines and web publications of the art sector.

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