Culture Shock

For people who care about such things, here's the current ranking:

1) Pablo Picasso, “Garcon a la Pipe,” $104 million (2004)

2) Vincent van Gogh, “Portrait of Dr. Gachet,” $82.5 million (1990)

3) Pierre Auguste Renoir, “Au Moulin de la Galette,” $78 million (1990)

4) Peter Paul Rubens, “Massacre of the Innocents,” $76.7 million (2002)

5) Vincent van Gogh, “Portrait de l’artiste sans barbe,” $65 million (1998)

6) Paul Cezanne, “Rideau, Cruchon et Compotier,” $55 million (1999)

7) Pablo Picasso, “Les Noces de Pierrette,” $51.67 million (1989)

8) Pablo Picasso, “Femme aux Bras Croisés,” $50 million (2000)

9) Vincent Van Gogh, “Irises,” $49 million (1989)

10) Pablo Picasso, “La Reve,” $48 million (1997)

Painted when Picasso was just 24, “Garcon a la Pipe” is one of the finest examples from his Rose Period. Former U.S. ambassador to Britain John Whitney purchased the painting in 1950 for a mere $30,000, illustrating the degree to which famous pieces by the rock stars of western art have inflated over the last half century.

Let's just hope ordinary people will have a chance to see it. A Japanese firm purchased number two on the list—Van Gogh's “Portrait of Dr. Gachet”— in 1990. The piece, sadly, has been locked in a vault in an undisclosed location in Tokyo ever since.