Back in August, a record price of $48.4 million was paid for a collector car sold at public auction. The car was a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO and the sale was RM Sotheby’s in Monterey, California.
For the record, the previous record for a collector car at public auction was $38.115 million in 2014 for another 250 GTO, this one selling at Bonhams at The Quail in Carmel, California.
Image Credit: Sotheby’s.
But where, you might wonder, does that $48.4 million purchase rank among other collectibles sold at auctions? This week, artnet.com published just such a list.
“The value of art often feels like an impossible thing to measure,” the art-centric website reported. “But the auction business has consistently shown us that everything has a price — and then, a few years later, often an even higher one. So what makes a work of art command millions, or even hundreds of millions?”
Here is the list of most-expensive things purchased at auction, what they sold for, where and when they sold
Image Credit: Sotheby’s.
Work of art
Salvator Mundi by Leonardo da Vinci
Auction price: $450.3 million
Auction house: Christie’s sale in New York City in November 2017
Image Credit: Wikipedia.
Sculpture
L’homme au doigt by Alberto Giacometti
Auction price: $141.3 million
Auction house: Christie’s New York in May 2015
Image Credit: Phil Roeder, Des Moines Art Center, Flickr.
Work by a living artist
Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) by David Hockney,
Auction price: $90.3 million
Auction house: Christie’s New York in November 2018
Image Credit: Regan Vercruysse / Flickr.
Diamond
The CTF Pink Star (59.6 carats)
Auction price: $71.2 million
Auction house: Sotheby’s Hong Kong, April 2017
Image Credit: Sotheby’s.
Car
1962 Ferrari 250 GTO
Auction price: $48.4 million
Auction house: RM Sotheby’s Monterey, August 2018
Image Credit: Sotheby’s.
Work by a female artist
Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1 by Georgia O’Keeffe
Auction price: $44.4 million
Auction house: Sotheby’s New York, November 2014
Image Credit: Indianapolis Museum of Art.
Pearl
Marie-Antoniette’s Pendant
Auction price: $36 million
Auction house: Sotheby’s Geneva, November 2018
Image Credit: Sotheby’s.
Coin
1794 Flowing Hair dollar
Auction price: $10 million
Auction house: Bowers, January 2013
Image Credit: Stack’s Bowers Galleries.
Stamp
British Guiana One-Cent Magenta
Auction price: $9.48 million
Auction house: Sotheby’s New York, June 2014
Image Credit: Sotheby’s.
Celebrity clothing
Marilyn Monroe’s ‘Subway Dress’ from The Seven Year Itch
Auction price: $5.5 million
Auction house: Profiles in History auction at Beverly Hills, June 2011
Image Credit: Sabrinap2015 / Wikimedia.
Photograph
Rhine II by Andreas Gursky
Auction price: $4.34 million
Auction house: Christie’s New York, November 2011
Image Credit: MoMA.
Space artifact
Soviet Vostok 3KA-2 Space Capsule
Auction price: $2.9 million
Auction house: Sotheby’s New York, April 2011
Image Credit: Sotheby’s.
Bottle of wine
1945 Romanee Conti
Auction price: $558,000 (two bottles of the ’45 vintage sold at the auction — one brought $558,000 and the other $496,000)
Auction house: Sotheby’s New York, October 2018
Image Credit: Sotheby’s.
Movie poster
Dracula (1931 starring Bela Lugosi)
Auction price: $525,800
Auction house: Heritage Auctions, Texas, November 2017
Image Credit: Heritage Auctions.
Barbie doll
Stefano Canturi Barbie
Auction price: $302,000
Auction house: Christie’s New York, October 2010 (Doll was custom designed by jeweler Stefano Canturi and was wearing a 1-carat pink diamond necklace surrounded by 3 carats of white diamonds)
This article originally appeared on ClassicCars.com and was syndicated by MediaFeed.org.
Image Credit: Alpha / Flickr.
