2. The Card Players (Paul Cézanne) - £180.7m ($270.5m)
French Post-Impressionist painter Paul Cézanne created a series of five oil paintings under the title of The Card Players during the early-1890s. The versions vary in size and number of players depicted, but one painting in the series is the second-most-expensive artwork in history. With the painting depicting Provençal peasants smoking pipes over a game of cards, Greek shipping magnate George Embiricos added it to his vast collection. However, shortly before his death in 2011, Embiricos sold the masterpiece privately to the Royal Family of Qatar for a then world-record sum equivalent to $270.5million (£180.7million).
NUFC editor for WhatCulture.com/NUFC. History graduate (University of Edinburgh) and NCTJ-trained journalist. I love sports, hopelessly following Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons. My pastimes include watching and attending sports matches religiously, reading spy books and sampling ales.
