Why do some paintings sell at auction for more than $100 million while others sell for much less? And which paintings have commanded the highest prices and what stimulates buying frenzies by the world's wealthiest people? British journalist Alastair Sooke and a camera crew went searching for the answers to these and other questions, and the results may surprise you. [Painting above, Le Rêve, by Pablo Picasso in 1932]
I won't tell you what painting sold for $106.5 million in 2010. I will, however tell you that in 2017, eight years after this documentary came out, Leonardo da Vinci's Salvador Mundi (Savior of the World) sold at auction for $497.8 million. [Painting above, Salvador Mundi, by Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1500]
Here's the fabulous BBC documentary, What Makes Art Valuable, from 2011...
