Portrait of Adele Bloch by Bauer I-Gustav Klimt $155.8 million
This painting, which took three years to complete, was commissioned by the wealthy industrialist Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer, who made his money in the sugar industry. Adele Bloch-Bauer was the only person to be painted twice by Klimt.
This painting is perhaps most famous not for its artistic quality, but because of its scandalous history since inception.