1. Garçon à la Pipe by Pablo Picasso ($ 104,100,000)

Garçon à la Pipe is painted during Picasso's famous Rose Period, a period in which Picasso preferred cheerful orange and pink colours. The oil on canvas painting, measuring 100 × 81.3 cm (slightly over 39 × 32 inches), depicts a Parisian boy holding a pipe in his left hand.

The record price paid for this painting in an auction at Sotheby's New York on May 4, 2004, was a bit of a surprise. While aesthetically pleasing, the painting is not made in the Cubist style that Picasso is so renowned for. Many even state that the record price was more due to the artists name than the quality of the painting.

2. Portrait of Dr. Gachet by Vincent van Gogh ($ 82,500,000)

This painting by the Dutch Impressionism master Vincent van Gogh suddenly became world-famous when Japanese businessman Ryoei Saito paid $82.5 million for it at auction in Christie's, New York. Saito was so attached to the painting that he wanted it to be cremated with him when he died. Saito died in 1996 but the painting was saved.

Vincent van Gogh actually painted two versions of Dr Gachet's portrait. You can view the other version, with a slightly different color scheme, at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.

3. Au Moulin de la Galette by Pierre-Auguste Renoir ($ 78,000,000)

Bal au moulin de la Galette, Montmartre is an 1876 painting by French artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir. On May 17, 1990, it was sold for $ 78,000,000 at Sotheby's in New York City, New York to Ryoei Saito, who bought it together with the Portrait of Dr Gachet.

4. Massacre of the Innocents by Peter Paul Rubens ($ 76,700,000)

This painting by Peter Paul Rubens, painted in 1611, is the only one painting in this list which was not painted in the 19th or 20th century. It was sold to Kenneth Thomson, 2nd Baron Thomson of Fleet for $ 76,700,000 at a 2002 Sotheby's auction.

5. Portrait de l'Artiste sans Barbe by Vincent van Gogh ($ 71,500,000)

Portrait de l'artiste sans barbe ("Self-portrait without beard") is one of many self-portraits by the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh, that he painted in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France in September 1889. The painting is a oil painting on canvas and is 40 cm x 31 cm (16" x 13").

Van Gogh painted this just after he had shaved himself. This is an uncommon painting since his other self-portraits show him with a beard. The self-portrait is one of the most expensive paintings of all time since it was sold for $71.5 million in 1998 in New York.

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