10 Most Expensive Paintings Ever Sold

By Chris Waugh /

6. Portrait Of Adele Bloch-Bauer I (Gustav Klimt) - £104.5m ($156.4m)

Austrian symbolist painter and Vienna Secessionist Gustav Klimt painted his first Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I in 1907. The painting of the Viennese salon lady was first stolen by the Nazis during World War II before being claimed by Klimt's family members during the 1950s. Interestingly though, American businessman and art collector Ronald Lauder bought the work for his New York City museum the Neue Galerie in 2006, paying the equivalent of $156.4million (£104.5million) for the luxury in a private sale facilitated by Christie's auction house.