# Why the eye popping 100 million dollar plus prices being paid for notable paintings?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-eye-popping-100-million-dollar-plus-prices-being-paid-for-notable-paintings/379450>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [November 7, 2006, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-eye-popping-100-million-dollar-plus-prices-being-paid-for-notable-paintings/379450 "2006-11-07T17:32:21Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\
**Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-eye-popping-100-million-dollar-plus-prices-being-paid-for-notable-paintings/379450/1 "2006-11-07T17:32:21Z")

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I posted on this some time ago with respect to some painting that went for 60 million or so, and I was agog at that, and now some of the more notable paintings are in the 100 to 140 million dollar range, and this is for relatively contemporary artists like[Picasso](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nora-ephron/my-weekend-in-vegas_b_31800.html) and Jackson Pollack.

I’ve got to admit these prices take my breath away. To have noteable paintings being sold for over 100 million dollars scarcely seems comprehensible. What drives people to spend these near insane amounts of money for paintings?

I don’t care who you are 100 million is a good chunk of anyone’s change.

[Pollack](http://www.artnewsblog.com/2006/11/record-price-for-jackson-pollock.htm)

> [@](#):
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> The New York Times has reported that a Jackson Pollock drip painting owned by David Geffen has been sold for $140 million. If confirmed, this would make it the most expensive painting in the world

.

[Picasso](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nora-ephron/my-weekend-in-vegas_b_31800.html)

> [@](#):
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> Wynn was in a very good mood because, he told us, he had just sold a Picasso for $139 million. I was surprised he’d sold it, because the Picasso in question was not just any old Picasso but the famous painting Le Reve, which used to hang in the museum at the Bellagio when Wynn owned it, and no question it was Wynn’s favorite painting

[Klimt Painting Fetches Record $135M](http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/06/19/national/main1727182.shtml)

> [@](#):
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> A gold-encrusted portrait by Gustav Klimt, one of the world’s most recognizable paintings and at the heart of a battle over Nazi-looted art, has been purchased for a record price by a New York museum, an attorney said.
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> The New York Times, citing experts familiar with the negotiations, reported the portrait sold for $135 million.

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**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\
**Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-eye-popping-100-million-dollar-plus-prices-being-paid-for-notable-paintings/379450/2 "2006-11-07T19:35:00Z")

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Someone with a million bucks in the bank might pay a hundred grand for something that pleases them, and may increase in value. Someone with a billion bucks in the bank may pay a hundred million…

Joe