7. Portrait Of Dr Gachet (Vincent Van Gogh) - £100.3m ($150.1m)
Japanese businessman Ryoei Saito regularly splashed the cash on classic artworks - and Vincent van Gogh's 1890 Portrait of Dr Gachet is the second on the list that he purchased during his lifetime. There are two authentic versions of this painting, but with differing shades, and it was the first one of the doctor who took care of Dutch painter Van Gogh in the last years of his life which Saito paid so much for. At an auction at Christie's in New York in May 1990 - just two days before he then spent the equivalent of $142.1million (£94.9million) on Bal du moulin de la Galette - Saito bought this painting for the equivalent of $150.1million (£100.3million) from the descendants of German-American banker Siegfried Kramarsky. That meant that in the space of three days, Saito spent almost £200million (roughly $300million) on two paintings....
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.
