Portraits: The Battle of the Sexes

According to an article published by the American company Bloomberg, portraits of women are more highly valued than those of men. Is this true? And if so, why?

Jeremiah Everts, head of Sotheby's Impressionist and Modern Art department, explains that a higher proportion of female subjects portrayed throughout art history has led to greater acceptance of the female figure and, therefore, a higher valuation than male subjects. Let's examine the nature of the most expensive portraits auctioned to draw some conclusions.

The most expensive portraits ever bought at auction

The most expensive portrait – which is also, in turn, the most expensive work of art in history – sold at auction was Leonardo da Vinci's "Salvator Mundi" for a whopping $450.3 million in 2017. There is no doubt that the powerful fascination aroused by the work of the Italian genius (with the Mona Lisa at the forefront) and which has continued to grow over the centuries, is behind this enormous price.

Leonardo da Vinci - Salvator mundi

The second spot is held by one of the portraits of Paul Gauguin, the French post-impressionist. "When Are You Getting Married?", a painting from his Tahiti series, fetched $300 million at auction in 2015.

Paul Gauguin - When are you getting married?

The next work on the list of the most expensive portraits (and the fourth on the list of the most expensive works) was "The Card Players" by Paul Cézanne, which was auctioned in 2012 for $250 million.

Paul Cézanne - The Card Players

Following this list are Les femmes d'Alger (The Women of Algiers) and Pablo Picasso's "The Dream," at $180 million and $179.4 million, respectively. Les femmes d'Alger is a series of fifteen paintings and numerous drawings, the last of which, Version O, was painted in 1955 and depicts a harem scene.

Pablo Picasso - The Women of Algiers

And finally, "Nu Couché." A nude by Amedeo Modigliani that caused such a scandal when it was exhibited in 1917 at the Berthe Weill gallery in Paris that the police had to remove it. Nevertheless, in 2015 it was auctioned for $170.4 million.

Amadeo Modigliani - Nu Couché

Based on these results, we can deduce that if the art market favors representations of women, it is because the majority of top-end collectors are men. Interestingly, the only known female buyer of the ten most expensive paintings sold at auction purchased a portrait of a man, while the four known buyers acquired portraits of women.