Picasso Tops Art Sales

For the tenth straight year Picasso is the top-selling artist on the list compiled by Artprice, an international agency that tracks arts sales and auctions around the world, reports Lawrence Van Gelder for the New York Times. Sales of Picassos totaled $339.2 million, followed by works by Andy Warhol, Klimt, who ranked 359th in 2005, vaulted into third place on the best-seller list after five of his major paintings came on the market when they were returned by Austria to the heirs of the owners, whose property was looted by the Nazis. Klimt's Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer sold for $135 million and the other four for a total of $184.2 million. On the Artprice list Klimt was followed by de Kooning ($107.4 million), Modigliani ($90.7 million), Chagall ($89 million), Schiele ($79.1 million), Gauguin ($62.3 million), Matisse ($59.7 million), and Roy Lichtenstein ($59.7 million). (For full source and article click the Headline). Irish Art