11 of the most expensive American art pieces sold at auction in the past 10 years

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

The first decade of the XXI century turned out to be favorable for the art industry: the most expensive painting in the world was sold at an auction for a fabulous sum, the ever-growing interest in the art of indigenous peoples and minorities, as well as the enduring influence of social networks on the aesthetic perspective did their job, playing one of the main roles. American art was no exception, and some of the most valuable masterpieces from the United States passed from hand to hand, setting new world records at auctions.

The twentieth century saw an explosion of creativity and innovation in American art, reflected in the eleven masterpieces listed here. While some of them have been housed in the contemporary art departments of major auction houses, each has contributed to the reputation and success of American art in general.

1. Norman Rockwell

Originally created as a cover for the Saturday Evening Post, Norman Rockwell's dressing room scene soon became a cult icon. Throughout the mid-20th century, Norman's prolific illustrations helped shape national identity, and as one of the country's oldest and most beloved Major League baseball teams, the Boston Red Sox were a surefire way to touch the hearts of even the hardest of Americans.

This painting depicting recognizable baseball players and published during the retirement of baseball legend Ted Williams is still relevant today, being considered a timeless painting. The painting depicts the rookie evoking conflicting emotions, as the Red Sox paraphernalia represents a sense of triumph and glory, while the awkward newcomer cannot help but cause feelings of anxiety and even embarrassment. The deep emotional response generated by the seemingly simple image is undoubtedly the reason that this painting was auctioned in 2014 for a staggering $ 22 million.

2. Edward Hopper

One of the most important and influential artists of the twentieth century, Edward Hopper distinguished himself from his contemporaries in capturing scenes of everyday American life with emotional but overt honesty. This is embodied in The East Wind Over Weehawken.

Despite the lack of drama or obvious beauty, the painting is charged with tension and emotion, especially as a result of the “For Sale” sign, which can mean forward movement and progression, but equally involves difficulty and struggle, causing ambiguous feelings. In 2013, this work was sold at Christie's for forty-one million dollars.

3. Georgia O'Keeffe

Constantly drawing inspiration from the plant world, Georgia O'Keeffe has taken American nature on a whole new scale. Instead of expansive landscapes and broad vistas, she chose small buds or individual leaves as the subject of her paintings, hoping that even busy New Yorkers would get an opportunity to appreciate the beauty of the natural world.

One flower that features in many of O'Keeffe's paintings is Jimson's weed (common dope), a poisonous plant she discovered near her New Mexico home. Her close-up paintings, depicting a delicate but poisonous flower, transform dangerous into beauty and freeze the ephemeral, making it immortal.

Despite the intimate subtext often attributed to her flower paintings, O'Keeffe insisted that they were a tribute to the beauty of nature and that such interpretations were the result of the critic's own projections, not her intentions.”Appeared at Sotheby's in 2014, it caused surprise and excitement of the public at the very moment when it was sold for almost forty-five million dollars, which made it the most expensive work of a woman artist.

4. Mark Rothko

Although at first glance it seems so simple that anyone with a brush and canvas could paint No. 10 - one of the most famous paintings by Mark Rothko. In fact, this work represents the artist's skill in both instruments and technique. The oils seem to shine with a supernatural glow that gives the painting energy and movement. The color palette evokes direct associations with heat, fire and passion, and the areas where yellow meets orange and red turns into black are imbued with an obsessive sense of the unknown.

Who knows what motivated one of the anonymous bidders at Christie's, who without regret parted with an impressive sum of eighty-two million dollars, acquiring "No. 10" for his own collection.

5. Andy Warhol

After portraying the likes of Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, and Marlon Brando, it was almost inevitable that the pop artist would turn to the King of Rock to complete his pantheon of American icons. Warhol's fascination with popular culture made Elvis Presley the ideal subject for one of his characteristic silk-screen prints. Overlapping film-like monochrome images and the idea of a silver screen reflected in a polished background take the viewer into the world of 1950s Hollywood for an unforgettable experience. This look is so powerful that it was bought at Christie's in 2014 for a whopping $ 82 million.

6. Barnett Newman

Between 1958 and 1966, Barnett Newman (Newman) created a series of black pigments on open canvases. Their simplicity and symbolic interaction between light and darkness embody the sense of solemnity and immensity generated by the artist's loss of his brother. Newman translated his grief and preoccupation with mortality into works of art that are rough and tense, yet sophisticated and harmonious at the same time.

The reference to fire in the title invites the viewer to see movement and passion even in linear lightning and monochrome palette. The piece certainly lit a fire in the heart of one anonymous bidder who bought Black Fire I from Christie's in 2014 for $ 84 million.

7. Mark Rothko

“Orange, red, yellow” - colors like Mark Rothko's painting attract the eye and emotions for many of the same reasons as No. 10. Its warm color palette seems to emit light from the oil, and the liminal areas in which one the shade becomes different, they require special contemplation. However, unlike No. 10, this piece exudes vitality and carries no hint of darkness, which seems to signify the end.

A myriad of light strokes create a variety of textures, from almost transparent to rich opalescence, which gives the painting a striking sense of depth. Combined with the enormous span of the canvas, which is almost 8 feet high, this creates the effect of enveloping the viewer in an intimate trail of warmth. That is why this work by Rothko was auctioned at Christie's in 2012 for almost eighty-seven million dollars.

8. Edward Hopper

Chop Suei is often considered Edward Hopper's most perfect painting due to the fact that it appeals to all the senses and invites the viewer to create a story in their mind. Like the East Wind over Weehawken, Chop Suei focuses on the more tranquil moments of American life, presenting an everyday scene with broad brush strokes and muted tones.

Instead of the photographic realism that many of his peers aspired to, this style evokes the effect of a memory or a dream. The enchanting and mysterious scene set the record for Hopper's most expensive work when it sold at Christie's in 2018 for just under $ 92 million.

9. Roy Lichtenstein

Long before it was sold at Christie's for ninety-five million dollars in 2015, Roy Lichtenstein's Nurse has become an iconic work of American art, embodying pop art's challenge to traditional visual art. Taking an example from modern advertising campaigns, comics and commercialism, pop art gave its audience a new lens through which it was possible to interpret the world around them and the messages they received.

The Nurse work retains a sense of depth and energy generated by the vast field of hand-stenciled (rather than machine-made) dots that make up the woman's face, sleeves and background. Combined with the bold lines and colors that make up the rest of the image, the painting hangs somewhere between parody, sincerity and irony.

10. Jean-Michel Basquiat

After receiving a copy of Grey's Anatomy while recovering from a car accident, Jean-Michel Basquiat became interested in the human body, as evidenced by the paintings he created as an adult. The skull is one of the most recognizable images that regularly appears in his work, a symbol that builds a bridge between life and death.

An example of this is his work "Untitled", in which bright colors and harsh, chaotic strokes contrast with a sunken, muted skull. Combining a scientific basis with an urban style, the painting embodies Basquiat's new approach to art. This was shown at the Basquiat exhibition, which was unnamed as the only piece on display, and at Sotheby's, where the painting was sold for one hundred and ten million dollars in 2017.

11. Andy Warhol

Like Triple Elvis, Andy Warhol's Silver Car Crash uses a combination of silk screen printing and silver paint, but the effect is completely different. The Silver Car Crash emphasizes that while the car may be the essence of freedom, industry and the American dream, it also has the ability to cause death, destruction and disaster.

The temptingly gruesome depiction of a wrecked car, repeated over and over again, and the hauntingly blank canvas next to it, caught the attention of three highly acclaimed art collectors: Gian Enzo Sperone, Charles Saatchi, and Thomas Amman. An anonymous Sotheby's auctioneer bought the painting in 2013 for one hundred and five million dollars, the highest price ever paid for Warhol.

Continuing the topic - 10 delightful landscape paintings, which charge the viewer with the most real "sublime energy" and give a sea of all kinds of emotions.