As the number two wealthiest rapper in hip-hop, Jay-Z can write a check for almost any (un) reasonably priced piece of art to add to his budding collection.
The $450 million dollar rapper can pick up some George Condo’s, a handful of Basquiat’s, even one or two Andre Serranos’ and some Warhol’s for good measure. What Mr. Sean Carter can’t do, however, is write a check outright for Leonardo Da Vinci’s “Lady WIth Ermine,” an oil painting by the Italian Renaissance master that’s now being heralded as the first portrait in oils and maybe the first ever painting sold for $1 billion.
“Lady with an Ermine” was painted in 1496 and it depicts Cecilia Gallerani, the mistress of Lodovico Sforza, Duke of Milan. Leonardo was in the service of the Duke at the time and the centuries old painting, now hanging in a museum in Poland, shows the teenage beauty, renowned for her brains and skills with poetry, stroking a ferret.
After the break, check some more outrageously expensive paintings Jay-Z can’t have.
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“Number 5” by Jackson Pollock.
Painted in 1948, this abstract expressionist painting is rumored to be worth $140 million.
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Painted by the art nouveau master Gustav Klimt in 1907, this portrait was purchased in 2006 by cosmetics heir Ronald S. Lauder. Price tag? $135 million.
The Austrian government tried to shut down the sale because Klimt’s heir claimed the Nazi’s stole it during the war.
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Picasso’s “Garçon à la Pipe” was created during the artist’s famous Rose Period, during which Picasso painted with a cheerful orange and pink palatte. 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 and is yours for a cheap $104.1 million.
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“Portrait of Dr. Gachet” by the Dutch Impressionist master Vincent van Gogh caused a stir in the world, when Japanese businessman Ryoei Saito paid $82.5 million for it at auction at Christie’s, New York in the 1980s. 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.
