Did you know that the first art auction dates back as far as the ancient Greeks, and the practice of granting the item (or the lot) to the highest bidder generates billions of dollars per year? In fact, the global sales of art and antiques by dealers and auction houses reached an estimated $65.1 billion in 2021 (Widewalls, 2022), with one of the most expensive and famous paintings ever sold worth a whopping USD $450.3 (Art In Context, 2022).
Among those that were auctioned and exhibited across the world, few ever achieved the fame and recognition to truly be considered household names. Here we highlight the 10 most famous paintings in the world (CNN Style, 2019).
How many famous paintings do you recognise?
Mona Lisa
Artist: Leonardo da Vinci
Estimated date: 1503 to 1519
Exhibition location: Louvre Museum (Paris)
The Last Supper
Artist: Leonardo da Vinci
Estimated date: 1495 to 1498
Exhibition location: Santa Maria delle Grazie (Milan, Italy)
The Starry Night
Artist: Vincent van Gogh
Date: 1889
Exhibition location: Museum of Modern Art (New York City)
The Scream
Artist: Edvard Munch
Date: 1893
Exhibition location: National Museum (Oslo, Norway — opening in 2020) and Munch Museum (Oslo — through May 2020)
Guernica
Artist: Pablo Picasso
Date: 1937
Exhibition location: Museo Reina Sofía (Madrid)
The Kiss
Artist: Gustav Klimt
Estimated date: 1907 to 1908
Exhibition location: Upper Belvedere museum (Vienna, Austria)
Girl With a Pearl Earring
Artist: Johannes Vermeer
Estimated date: 1665
Exhibition location: Mauritshuis (The Hague, Netherlands)
The Birth of Venus
Artist: Sandro Botticelli
Estimated date: 1485
Exhibition location: Le Gallerie Degli Uffizi (Florence, Italy)
Las Meninas
Artist: Diego Velázquez
Date: 1656
Exhibition location: Museo del Prado (Madrid)
Creation of Adam
Artist: Michelangelo
Date: 1508 to 1512
Exhibition location: Sistine Chapel (Vatican City)
Honourable mentions
- Hieronymus Bosch, “The Garden of Earthly Delights” (1503-1515)
- Claude Monet, “Water Lilies” series (1840-1926)
- Georges Seurat, “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” (1884-1886)
- Grant Wood, “American Gothic” (1930)
- Salvador Dali, “The Persistence of Memory” (1931)
- Edward Hopper, “Nighthawks” (1942)
If you’re something of an artist yourself and have artwork that needs to be carefully stored, handled, installed or relocated, we have just the solution.