Quiz: Which of These Works of Art Is Worth More?

Andy Warhol, Liz #3 [Early Colored Liz], 1963. Courtesy of Sotheby’s.

Over the past five years, the market for contemporary art has ballooned. Whether the reason is supply or shifting taste (or, more likely, a combination of both), we live in a world where you can buy an entire Old Master paintings sale at Sotheby’s for less than the cost of one Jeff Koons balloon dog. Of course, there are outliers: Exceptional objects in categories as unsexy as carpets can still fetch eye-popping sums. And price is not always equivalent to cultural value. Major 20th-century works by African-American and women artists, for example, rarely surpass lesser works by their white, male contemporaries. On the heels of the record-shattering postwar- and contemporary-art auctions in New York last month, can you guess which works sold (over the last five years) for the highest price?

1Richter’s largest-ever photo-painting, an early word painting by Ruscha, Wayne Thiebaud’s saccharine picture of pies, or one of Warhol’s silkscreens of Elizabeth Taylor?

$37,125,000 Domplatz, Mailand (Cathedral Square, Milan), Gerhard Richter, 1968 Sotheby's $30,405,000 Smash, Ed Ruscha, 1963 Christie's $4,002,500 Pies, Wayne Thiebaud, 1961 Sotheby's $31,525,000 Liz #3 [Early Colored Liz], Andy Warhol, 1963 Sotheby's

2A seminal Joan Mitchell, a mature Clyfford Still, a fiery Mark Rothko, or a classic Pollock drip painting?

$11,925,000 Untitled, Joan Mitchell, 1960 Christie's $61,682,500 1949-A-No. 1, Clyfford Still, 1949 Sotheby's $86,882,500 Orange, Red, Yellow, Mark Rothko, 1961 Christie's $58,363,750 Number 19, Jackson Pollock, 1948 Christie's

3A shot of the Manhattan skyline by Stieglitz, a film still by Cindy Sherman, one of Ansel Adams’ sweeping landscapes, or a portrait by the 19th-century photographer Julia Margaret Cameron?

$929,000 Evening, New York from the Shelton, Alfred Stieglitz, 1931 Sotheby's $2,225,000 Untitled film still #48, Cindy Sherman, 1979 Sotheby's $545,000 Winter Sunrise, Sierra Nevada From Lone Pine, California, Ansel Adams, 1941 Christie's $461,000 No. 5 of Series of Twelve Lifesized Heads (Kate Keown), Julia Margaret Cameron, 1866 Sotheby's

4A study traditionally attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, a contemporary trompe l’oeil by Tauba Auerbach, an ancient marble torso of Aphrodite or a folded canvas by Piero Manzoni?

$3,020,749 Drapery Study of a Kneeling Figure Facing Left, workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio, traditionally attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, circa 1490 Sotheby's $2,285,000 Untitled (Fold), Tauba Auerbach, 2010 Phillips $1,805,000 A Hellenistic Marble Torso of Aphrodite, circa 1st-century BC or earlier Sotheby's $14,123,750 Achrome, Piero Manzoni, 1958 Christie's

5A spray painted canvas by Sterling Ruby, an abstract by artist-about-town Alex Israel, an experimental 1970s work by Sam Gilliam, or a Jules Olitski Color Field composition from the 1960s?

$958,326 SP83, Sterling Ruby, 2009 Phillips $1,025,000 Sky Backdrop, Alex Israel, 2012 Christie's $72,000 Butterfly, Feeling, Sam Gilliam, 1972 Swann Galleries $326,500 Maximum, Jules Olitski, 1966 Sotheby's

6An elegant sculpture by Brancusi in his prime, an ancient Peruvian masterwork, Elizabeth Taylor’s tiara, or Jeff Koons’s much-derided Popeye?

$14,866,500 Le premier ici, Constantin Brancusi, 1917 Christie's $53,125 Sican Gold Beaker, CA. A.D. 900–1200 Sotheby's $4,226,500 The Mike Todd Diamond Tiara, an antique diamond tiara from the collection of Elizabeth Taylor, circa 1880 Christie's $28,165,000 Popeye, Jeff Koons, 2009–2011 Sotheby's

7The Scream in pastel, a Renaissance drawing of an apostle, a suite of scribbles by Cy Twombly, or an illuminated manuscript owned by three generations of Rothschilds?

$119,922,500 The Scream, Edvard Munch, 1895 Sotheby's $47,869,045 Head of a Young Apostle, Raffaello Sanzio, called Raphael, circa 1519-20 Sotheby's $21,669,000 Poems in the sea (in 24 parts), Cy Twombly, 1959 Sotheby's $13,605,000 Rothschild Prayerbook, circa 1505–1510 Christie's

8A springtime scene by Renoir, a major work by Impressionism’s leading female pioneer Berthe Morisot, a late Van Gogh, or a rare non-nude portrait by Modigliani?

$15,128,963 L’ombrelle, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1878 Christie's $4,365,000 Femme à l’éventail, Berthe Morisot, 1876 Sotheby's $3,106,500 Une Liseuse de Romans, Vincent Van Gogh, 1888 Christie's $25,925,000 L’Amazone, Amedeo Modigliani, 1909 Sotheby's

9A Botticelli owned by John D. Rockefeller, a recently authenticated Velázquez, a brawl scene by Brueghel the Younger, or a voluptuous Rubens?

$10,442,500 The Rockefeller Madonna: Madonna and Child With Young Saint John the Baptist, Sandro Botticelli, early 1490s Christie's $4,648,448 Portrait of a gentleman, bust-length, in a black tunic and white golilla collar, Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez, c. 1630s Bonhams $1,321,883 A Country Brawl, Pieter Brueghel the Younger, 1610 Christie's $542,000 Alexander and Roxana, Sir Peter Paul Rubens, 1577-1640 Christie's

10A gilded 19th-century teapot, a playful ceramic by Picasso, a pint-size Ming Dynasty cup, or a psychedelic egg by Ken Price?

$50,887 A Rare Sevrès “Petit Verd�–ground teapot and cover, painted by Antoine-Joseph Chappuis, circa 1765 Bonhams $62,500 Visage au Nez Noir, Pablo Picasso, 1969 Christie's $36,050,000 The Meiyintang “Chicken Cup,� circa 1465–1487 Sotheby's $509,000 Pink Egg, Ken Price, 1964 Phillips

11A minimalist masterpiece you can walk on by Carl Andre, embroidery by the Arte Povera star Alighiero Boetti, a handspun Rio Grande blanket, or a 17th-century Persian carpet?

$2,165,000 100 Copper Square (in 100 parts), Carl Andre, 1968 Christie's $2,798,660 Addizione, Alighiero Boetti, 1974 Christie's $3,125 Transitional Rio Grande Blanket Sotheby's $33,765,000 A Sickle-Leaf, Vine Scroll and Palmette ‘Vase’-Technique Carpet, probably Kirman, Southeast Persia, first half of the 17th century Sotheby's

Quiz Results

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