Art can be very beautiful but as beauty is said to be in the eye of the beholder, then not all art will be to your taste. Paintings that were very much to the taste of some buyers, have been sold for incredible sums of money. Here are a few of the most expensive pieces of art in the world.

The Card Players by Cezanne – this is a very famous painting with two men sat across a table from each other playing cards. The original was bought by Qatar for a cool $274 million.

Les Femmes d’Alger by Picasso – Picasso was inspired by the work of Eugene Delacroix who had painted women in their apartments in Algiers in 1834. This is said to be one of the most important Picasso pieces to be in private hands. It cost $179.3 million.

Le Reve by Picasso – yes another Picasso worth $158.5 million. The picture eventually ended up with Steven Cohen, one of Wall Street’s biggest art collectors, in 2013 although originally the deal had been planned in 2006 but it’s previous owner accidentally put his elbow through the canvas!

A pricey painting

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Portrait of Adele Block-Bauer I by Gustav Klimt – this is an iconic painting and its reproductions have been used many times. It was bought in 2006 for $158.4 million, a record at that time, and placed in the Neue Galerie. It had been seized by the Nazis and only reclaimed by the original owner’s niece when she was in her eighties. For more information on Artwork scanning, visit http://www.river-studio.com/services/artwork-copying-reproduction.php

Portrait of Dr Gachet by Van Gogh – this was the doctor who cared for Van Gogh towards the end of his life and it broke all records when it was sold in 1990 for $152 million. The portraits whereabouts are currently unknown as it’s owner died in debt and the painting disappeared.

Violet, Green and Red by Mark Rothko – a more modern piece for which a Russian billionaire paid $186 million for. The painting has since been part of a legal dispute with the Russian claiming he was lied to over the price.

The top prize goes to When Will You Marry by Paul Gaugin. Again another modern piece dating from 1982 featuring two tahitian girls which smashed all records with it’s $300 million sale price. It was painted on the artist’s first trip to Tahiti and is now in Qatar.