Paintings have always been a focus of love, jealousy and desire amongst all sectors of the community, and have seemingly untold ability to generate jaw-dropping prices at auctions with investment from the worlds richest galleries, corporations, private owners and investors.

In this article, we take a look at some of the most expensive paintings ever sold.

No. 5 by Jackson Pollock

No. 5 by Jackson Pollock was sold in 2006 for $140 million.
Jackson Pollock was an American painter, who contributed greatly to the abstract expressionist movement. This painting was created on a sheet of fibreboard, with thick amounts of brown and yellow paint drizzled on top of it, forming a nest-like appearance.

Woman III by Willem de Kooning

Woman III by Willem de Kooning was sold in 2006 for $137.5 million.

Willem de Kooning was an abstrach expressionist painter. This painting was one of a series of six paintings by de Kooning between 1951 and 1953 with a central theme of a woman.

Adele Bloch-Bauer I by Gustav Klimt

Adele Bloch-Bauer I by Gustav Klimt was sold in 2006 for $135 million.
Gustav Klimt was an Austrian symbolist painter whose primary subject in his work was the female body.

The Adele Bloch-Bauer I took three years to complete and its measures 138 x 138 cm and is made of oil and gold on canvas. It shows elaborate and complex ornamentation as seen in the Jugendstil style.

Boy with a Pipe by Pablo Picasso

Boy with a Pipe by Pablo Picasso was sold in 2004 for $104 million.
Picasso was a Spanish painter and sculptor and co-founded the Cubist movement. This was painted in 1905 when Picasso was 24 years old.

The Boy with a Pipe is an oil on canvas painting which depicts a Parisian boy holding a pipe in his left hand and wearing a garland or wreath of flowers.

Dora Maar with Cat by Pablo Picasso

Dora Maar with Cat by Pablo Picasso was sold in 2006 for $95.2 million.
This was painted in 1941 and depicts the painter’s lover, seated on a chair with a small cat perched on her shoulders.

The faceted planes of her body and richly layered surface of brushstrokes impart a monumental and sculptural quality to this portrait. The painting is also remarkable for its brilliance of colour and the complex and dense patterning of the model's dress. The powerful figure is set in a dramatic, yet simple setting composed of a vertiginously inclined plane of wooden floorboards and shallow interior space that is arranged in a manner reminiscent of Picasso’s earliest manipulations of space in a cubist manner.

Portrait du Dr. Gachet by Vincent van Gogh

Portrait du Dr. Gachet by Vincent van Gogh was sold in 1990 for $82.5 million.
Vincent van Gogh was a Dutch post-impressionist painter whose work has a huge influence on 20th century art due to its vivid colours and emotional impact.

This is a portrait of Paul-Ferdinand Gachet who was a French physician who treated Vincent van Gogh during his last weeks in Auvers-sur-Oise. Gachet was a great supporter of artists and the Impressionist movement.

Au Moulin de la Galette by Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Au Moulin de la Galette by Pierre-Auguste Renoir was sold in 1990 for $78.1 million.
Renoir was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. He celebrated beauty, especially feminine sensuality.

Au Moulin de la Galette was painted in 1876 and depicts a typical Sunday afternoon at Moulin de la Galette in the district of Montmartre in Paris. It is a typically Impressionist snapshot of real life. It shows a richness of form, a fluidity of brush stroke, and a flickering light.

The Massacre of the Innocents by Paul Rubens

The Massacre of the Innocents by Paul Rubens was sold in 2002 for $76.7 million.
Paul Rubens was a prolific 17th century Flemish baroque painter and a proponent of an extravagant baroque style that emphasised movement, colour and sensuality.

This painting is depicting an episode of the biblical Massacre of the Innocents as related in the Gospel of Matthew.

Portrait de L'Artiste sans Barbe by Vincent van Gogh

Portrait de L'Artiste sans Barbe by Vincent van Gogh was sold in 1998 for £71.5 million.
Van Gogh painted Self-Portrait without beard just after he had shaved himself. He created many self-portraits during his lifetime.

Rideau, Cruchon et Compotier by Paul Cézanne

Rideau, Cruchon et Compotier by Paul Cézanne was sold in 1999 for $60.5 million.
Paul Cézanne was a French artist and post-impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations for the transition from the 19th century conception of artistic endeavour to a new and radically different world of art in the 20th century.

Rideau, Cruchon et Compotier is a painting created in about 1893 to 1894.