The world of art is a weird and wonderful one. While no one really bats an eyelid when pieces by legendary artists the likes of Leonardo da Vinci, Salvador Dalí and Pablo Picasso fetch eye-watering prices, this isn’t always the case for all artworks.
An example would be New York abstract artist Barnett Newman’s Onement VI, which sold at a 2013 Sotheby’s auction for an astounding US$48.8 million (S$61.2 million) — and is essentially a blue canvas with a single line running down its centre.Fans of Newman, a prominent name in the abstract-expressionist scene, probably found nothing shocking about its high price. After all, the artist has long been known for creating such paintings with lines. But for those who weren’t quite as keen on or familiar with his style, Onement VI’s sale was perhaps a baffling one, because of how ordinary it looked.
The contentious painting isn’t the most expensive artwork ever sold, though. Past years have seen many other art pieces achieving multi-million record prices — the most recent being a Gustav Klimt work, which fetched £48 million (S$83.4 million) at a Sotheby’s auction earlier this month.
Here are 5 of the world’s most expensive art pieces ever sold. Whether you agree with their prices, one thing is for certain: Art is indeed subjective.