Top 5 Most Priceless Paintings in 2025

Art as a Financial Asset: The Top Paintings of 2025

Art transcends mere expression of ideas and the allure of beauty. For numerous individuals, it serves as a monetary investment. The appropriate artwork can grow in value over the years and, when sold, can generate profits reaching millions (and millions) of dollars. The auction price of a painting can also provide insights into emerging trends and other market dynamics that are inflating the value of art pieces. Here, we explore the highest valued paintings as of 2025.

The priciest paintings aren’t always sold through auctions. Many transactions occur in private sales, which conceal details about the purchaser and the actual amount spent. Nonetheless, final sale prices typically come to light, either through press announcements or due to legal matters.

Continue reading to discover which artwork tops the list of the most costly art pieces.

Curious about the most valuable paintings? Here are the top five for 2025.

5. Nafea Faa Ipoipo (When Will You Marry?) by Paul Gauguin | $210 million

In 2014, Qatar acquired Nafea Faa Ipoipo (When Will You Marry?) by Paul Gauguin. This work was among Gauguin’s earliest pieces post his 1891 visit to Tahiti. Initially, it was reported the painting sold for $300 million, exceeding the sum paid for the Cézanne a few years prior. However, a legal conflict later disclosed that the actual sale price was $210 million.

4. The Card Players by Paul Cézanne | $250 million

Prior to purchasing Nafea Faa Ipoipo (When Will You Marry?), Qatar secured Paul Cézanne’s The Card Players for $250 million in 2011. At that moment, it more than doubled the existing auction record for a single artwork. Depicting two peasants engaged in a card game, the final sale price was considered astounding. Nevertheless, there was rationale behind the hefty bid; The Card Players is part of a series of five, and by acquiring one, Qatar positioned itself alongside other collectors—the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, the Courtauld in London, and the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia.

3. Interchange by Willem de Kooning | $300 million

Abstract expressionist Willem de Kooning created Interchange in 1955, and in 2016, it sold for $300 million in a private transaction. Hedge fund manager Kenneth Griffin purchased it from DreamWorks co-founder David Geffen. Currently, the painting is on loan to the Norton Museum in West Palm Beach, Florida.

2. Salvator Mundi by Leonardo da Vinci | $450.3 million

The auction of Salvator Mundi took place in 2017, establishing a new record for the highest price ever achieved for artwork at auction. Created around the year 1500, it is a recently rediscovered masterpiece attributed to Leonardo da Vinci. Initially bought in 2006 based on an intuition regarding the famous Renaissance artist’s authorship. After extensive restoration and academic debate, it’s largely accepted as such, although no definitive method exists to affirm it. This, however, did not deter bidders from participating in a 19-minute bidding frenzy in 2017 that far surpassed the starting bid of $100 million. Before this auction at Christie’s New York, no artwork had exceeded a sale price of $200 million.

1. Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci | Valued up to $1 Billion

First and foremost: the Mona Lisa will not be auctioned off. It is set to remain at the Louvre in Paris for the foreseeable future. However, that doesn’t inhibit experts from estimating its value, thus creating a benchmark for other pieces. This quintessential Renaissance icon is appraised at up to $1 billion due to its historical and cultural importance. It’s apparent why.