They keep on going up, up, up
The levels of art sales from the works of famous artists continues to climb higher and higher. Art sales, like sales of anything else depend on supply and demand and the market for works of art can go up or down. Nevertheless, it is safe to say that art sales have continued on an upward trend through the years. A 1983 painting by the German artist Gerhard Richter recently fetched $16.5 million at a Christie’s auction, leading the artist himself to find the price incredible. Art sales at the Christie’s event amounted to ₤55.7 million in spite of surveys that show investors reluctant to buy art during difficult economic times.

Adjusted for exchange rate and inflation, the highest art sales recorded in US dollars are the following:

• 2006 was a good year for art sales with the top three selling paintings changing hands in that year. At the top of the list is No. 5, 1948 by Jackson Pollock which sold for $156.8 million in 2006. Next on the list is Woman III by Willem de Kooning for $154 million followed by Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I by Gustave Klimt for $150.2 million. Portrait of Dr. Gachet by Vincent van Gogh sold for $144.1 in 1990 as did Bal du moulin de la Galette by Pierre-Auguste Renoir for $136.4 million.
• The next top 5 in art sales records went to Garçon à la pipe of Pablo Picasso for $124.3 million in 2004; Nude, Green Leaves and Bust also by Picasso for $110.2 million in 2010; Portrait of Joseph Roulin by Vincent van Gogh in 1987 for an equivalent price of $107 million; Dora Maar au Chat by Picasso for $106.1 million in 2006 and Irises by van Gogh in 1987 for $105.1 million.
• Among the buyers involved in these art sales were American hedge fund manager Steven A. Cohen; American businessman Ronald Steven Lauder, son of Estée Lauder;  Japanese businessman Ryoei Sato who said he wanted the famous paintings he bought to be cremated with him; the Museum of Modern Art in New York; and Alan Bond, the controversial Australian businessman.
• Among the sellers of these works of art were David Geffen, one of the founders of Dreamworks SKG; Maria Altmann who won the celebrated case to recover Klimt paintings stolen from her family by the Nazis; Betsey Cushing Roosevelt Whitney, wife of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s eldest son and later wife of American millionaire and diplomat John Hay Whitney; and the estate of Frances Lasker Brody who was a major mover of cultural life in Los Angeles, an active participant in art sales and a name associated with famous artists.