Most Expensive Auction Items
Most Expensive Painting
All it took was a little over 8 minutes to set the record price for a piece of art sold at auction. On May 4, Christie's sold Pablo Picasso's Nude, Green Leaves and Bust, a painting created in the span of a single day in 1932, for $106.5 million dollars. The painting, which is of Picasso's lover Marie-Therese Walter, was previously owned by a California philanthropist.
Item: Pablo Picasso's Nude, Green Leaves and Bust
Winning Bid: $106.5 million
Sold: 2010
Most Expensive Piece of Clothing
When Marilyn Monroe delivered a sultry "Happy Birthday" serenade to President John F. Kennedy on May 19, 1962, the blonde bombshell wore a flesh-colored, curve-hugging, jewel-encrusted dress so tight and sheer that, according to legend, Monroe was sewn into the gown and wore nothing under it.
Item: Marilyn Monroe's "Happy Birthday Mr. President" Dress
Winning Bid: $1,267,500
Sold: 1999
Most Expensive Manuscript
As the ultimate Renaissance man, Leonardo da Vinci meticulously recorded his thoughts, musings and sketches in journals throughout his life. Of the 30 that remain, his most famous is the Codex Hammer, named for the British nobleman who acquired the 72-page journal in 1717. Three years after Bill Gates bought the historic diary, he released a digitally scanned version for all the world to enjoy.
Item: Leonardo da Vinci's Codex Hammer
Winning Bid: $30,802,500
Sold: 1994
Most Expensive Musical Instrument
Even if you don't play the violin, you've probably heard of Antonio Stradivari, the famous Italian craftsman of stringed instruments (or luthier, as such a person is known). But it was Bartolomeo Giuseppe Antonio Guarnieri, the grandson of one of Stradivari's apprentices, whose instrument broke the world record for the highest-priced auction item.
Item: Guarneri del Gesù violin
Winning Bid: $3.9 million
Sold: 2007
Most Expensive Lock of Hair
Apart from his soulful voice and swinging hips, Elvis Presley was known for his hair. So it's perhaps no surprise that a strand from the King of Rock 'n' Roll's pompadour — surreptitiously hoarded by his personal barber — would bring in more dough than hair from John Lennon ($48,000), John F. Kennedy ($3,000) and Beethoven ($7,300) combined.
Item: Tresses from Elvis Presley
Winning Bid: $115,000
Sold: 2002
Most Expensive Antiquity
When construction workers first unearthed this 2,000-year-old bronze sculpture in Rome in the 1920s, they never could have guessed it would fetch the highest price for any relic — indeed, for any sculpture, period — ever sold at auction. "I'd say it's probably the best antiquity I've sold in my 37 years at Sotheby's," a director at the famous auction house said of the 36-inch statue of the Goddess of the Hunt. And to think, some curators predicted it would only sell for $7 million.
Item: Roman-era statue, Artemis and the Stag
Winning Bid: $28.6 million
Sold: 2007
Most Expensive Car
There are only 21 other cars like it, but none of them are quite so expensive. While the 1957 Testa Rossas won 10 of the 19 international races that they entered from 1958 and 1961, this particular vehicle never finished better than fourth. No matter; the car's finest quality is not its speed but its beauty. With a body made by famed Italian automobile designer Sergio Scaglietti, the Testa Rossa boasts pontoon fenders and is said to have been one of Scaglietti's favorites. The record-breaking Ferrari auction, organized by RM Auctions and Sotheby's, in May 2009 proved that at least one luxury item has survived the recession.
Item: 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa
Winning Bid: $12.2 million
Sold: 2009
Most Expensive Furniture
An item like this really ties the room together — with money. When the 18th century Florentine ebony chest inlaid with amethyst quartz, agate, lapis lazuli and other stones sold for $36 million at a 2004 Christie's auction, it broke its own record as the most expensive piece of furniture sold at auction.
Item: Badminton Cabinet
Winning Bid: $36 million
Sold: 2004
Most Expensive Diamond
If diamonds are a girl's best friend, the Wittelsbach would make one heck of a BFF. The 35.56-carat blue diamond dates back to the 17th century, when King Philip IV of Spain selected the jewel to be part of his daughter's dowry. The diamond passed among Austrian and Bavarian royalty for centuries, but after World War I Bavaria became a republic and the jewel was repossessed by the state.
Item: Wittelsbach diamond
Winning Bid: $23.4 million
Sold: 2008
Most Expensive Sports Memorabilia
You knew you were in for something special when Mark McGwire came to bat. With the best at-bats-per-home-run ratio in the history of baseball (10.61 compared to Babe Ruth's 11.80), the St. Louis Cardinal was destined for Major League Baseball history. But McGwire's real claim to fame came in 1998, when he beat the Chicago Cubs' Sammy Sosa for the record of the most home runs in a single season.
Item: Mark McGwire's 70th-home-run baseball
Winning Bid: $3 million
Sold: 1999
All it took was a little over 8 minutes to set the record price for a piece of art sold at auction. On May 4, Christie's sold Pablo Picasso's Nude, Green Leaves and Bust, a painting created in the span of a single day in 1932, for $106.5 million dollars. The painting, which is of Picasso's lover Marie-Therese Walter, was previously owned by a California philanthropist.
Item: Pablo Picasso's Nude, Green Leaves and Bust
Winning Bid: $106.5 million
Sold: 2010
Most Expensive Piece of Clothing
When Marilyn Monroe delivered a sultry "Happy Birthday" serenade to President John F. Kennedy on May 19, 1962, the blonde bombshell wore a flesh-colored, curve-hugging, jewel-encrusted dress so tight and sheer that, according to legend, Monroe was sewn into the gown and wore nothing under it.
Item: Marilyn Monroe's "Happy Birthday Mr. President" Dress
Winning Bid: $1,267,500
Sold: 1999
Most Expensive Manuscript
As the ultimate Renaissance man, Leonardo da Vinci meticulously recorded his thoughts, musings and sketches in journals throughout his life. Of the 30 that remain, his most famous is the Codex Hammer, named for the British nobleman who acquired the 72-page journal in 1717. Three years after Bill Gates bought the historic diary, he released a digitally scanned version for all the world to enjoy.
Item: Leonardo da Vinci's Codex Hammer
Winning Bid: $30,802,500
Sold: 1994
Most Expensive Musical Instrument
Even if you don't play the violin, you've probably heard of Antonio Stradivari, the famous Italian craftsman of stringed instruments (or luthier, as such a person is known). But it was Bartolomeo Giuseppe Antonio Guarnieri, the grandson of one of Stradivari's apprentices, whose instrument broke the world record for the highest-priced auction item.
Item: Guarneri del Gesù violin
Winning Bid: $3.9 million
Sold: 2007
Most Expensive Lock of Hair
Apart from his soulful voice and swinging hips, Elvis Presley was known for his hair. So it's perhaps no surprise that a strand from the King of Rock 'n' Roll's pompadour — surreptitiously hoarded by his personal barber — would bring in more dough than hair from John Lennon ($48,000), John F. Kennedy ($3,000) and Beethoven ($7,300) combined.
Item: Tresses from Elvis Presley
Winning Bid: $115,000
Sold: 2002
Most Expensive Antiquity
When construction workers first unearthed this 2,000-year-old bronze sculpture in Rome in the 1920s, they never could have guessed it would fetch the highest price for any relic — indeed, for any sculpture, period — ever sold at auction. "I'd say it's probably the best antiquity I've sold in my 37 years at Sotheby's," a director at the famous auction house said of the 36-inch statue of the Goddess of the Hunt. And to think, some curators predicted it would only sell for $7 million.
Item: Roman-era statue, Artemis and the Stag
Winning Bid: $28.6 million
Sold: 2007
Most Expensive Car
There are only 21 other cars like it, but none of them are quite so expensive. While the 1957 Testa Rossas won 10 of the 19 international races that they entered from 1958 and 1961, this particular vehicle never finished better than fourth. No matter; the car's finest quality is not its speed but its beauty. With a body made by famed Italian automobile designer Sergio Scaglietti, the Testa Rossa boasts pontoon fenders and is said to have been one of Scaglietti's favorites. The record-breaking Ferrari auction, organized by RM Auctions and Sotheby's, in May 2009 proved that at least one luxury item has survived the recession.
Item: 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa
Winning Bid: $12.2 million
Sold: 2009
Most Expensive Furniture
An item like this really ties the room together — with money. When the 18th century Florentine ebony chest inlaid with amethyst quartz, agate, lapis lazuli and other stones sold for $36 million at a 2004 Christie's auction, it broke its own record as the most expensive piece of furniture sold at auction.
Item: Badminton Cabinet
Winning Bid: $36 million
Sold: 2004
Most Expensive Diamond
If diamonds are a girl's best friend, the Wittelsbach would make one heck of a BFF. The 35.56-carat blue diamond dates back to the 17th century, when King Philip IV of Spain selected the jewel to be part of his daughter's dowry. The diamond passed among Austrian and Bavarian royalty for centuries, but after World War I Bavaria became a republic and the jewel was repossessed by the state.
Item: Wittelsbach diamond
Winning Bid: $23.4 million
Sold: 2008
Most Expensive Sports Memorabilia
You knew you were in for something special when Mark McGwire came to bat. With the best at-bats-per-home-run ratio in the history of baseball (10.61 compared to Babe Ruth's 11.80), the St. Louis Cardinal was destined for Major League Baseball history. But McGwire's real claim to fame came in 1998, when he beat the Chicago Cubs' Sammy Sosa for the record of the most home runs in a single season.
Item: Mark McGwire's 70th-home-run baseball
Winning Bid: $3 million
Sold: 1999
