The most expensive minimalist painting we found is Mark Rothko’s Orange, Red, Yellow, which sold at Christie’s in May 2012 for $86.9 million. It sits alongside Barnett Newman’s Black Fire I at $84.2 million and two Cy Twombly scribbles above $69 million. This list ranks ten of the priciest works that people say a child could have made, by their auction price as of October 2026.
Calling these simple is the standard complaint. Collectors answer that the simple version is the hard one to get right.
| Rank | Work | Price (USD) | Sale date | Sold at |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mark Rothko, Orange, Red, Yellow (1961) | $86.9 million | May 2012 | Christie’s, New York |
| 2 | Barnett Newman, Black Fire I (1961) | $84.2 million | May 2014 | Christie’s, New York |
| 3 | Cy Twombly, New York City (1968) | $70.5 million | Nov 2015 | Auction |
| 4 | Cy Twombly, Untitled (1970) | $69.6 million | Nov 2014 | Christie’s, New York |
| 5 | Kazimir Malevich, Suprematist Composition (1916) | $60 million | Nov 2008 | Sotheby’s, New York |
| 6 | Barnett Newman, Onement VI (1953) | $43.8 million | 2013 | Sotheby’s, New York |
| 7 | Christopher Wool, Riot (1990) | about $29.9 million | 2015 | Sotheby’s, New York |
| 8 | Lucio Fontana, Concetto spaziale, la fine di dio (1964) | $29 million | Nov 2015 | Christie’s |
| 9 | Yves Klein, Sculpture Eponge Bleue (SE 168) | $22 million | May 2013 | Sotheby’s, New York |
| 10 | Ellsworth Kelly, Red Curve VII | $9.8 million | Nov 2019 | Christie’s, New York |
1. Mark Rothko, Orange, Red, Yellow (1961): $86.9 million
Three soft rectangles of orange and yellow floating on red. It sold on 8 May 2012 from the estate of David Pincus for $86,882,500 with fees ($77.5 million hammer), a record for post-war art at auction. The pre-sale estimate was about $45 million, and when bidding hit $70 million three bidders were still in. The contest ran for over six and a half minutes, unusually long for a contemporary sale.
One critic called it the most powerful of all his pictures. A child can paint three rectangles. The trick is the edges, which Rothko softened so they seem to hum.
The price is Christie’s total with buyer’s premium.
2. Barnett Newman, Black Fire I (1961): $84.2 million
A dark field with thin vertical lines, which Newman called zips. It sold to a private collector on 13 May 2014 for $84,165,000 after a telephone bidding war, well above the $50 million estimate.
We took Christie’s price with fees.
3. Cy Twombly, New York City (1968): $70.5 million
Looping white scribbles on a slate-grey ground, recalling Twombly’s time as a cryptologist at the Pentagon, according to one description. It set the artist’s record in November 2015. We did not confirm the auction house.
The price comes from a published record and we did not verify the venue.
4. Cy Twombly, Untitled (1970): $69.6 million
An untitled blackboard painting with lasso-like scribbles, sold on 12 November 2014 for $69.6 million (£44.3 million), far above a $35 million to $55 million estimate. It was Twombly’s record for a year, until the 1968 painting passed it.
The result is Christie’s price including fees.
5. Kazimir Malevich, Suprematist Composition (1916): $60 million
A blue rectangle over a red beam on white. Heirs of the artist sold it at Sotheby’s on 3 November 2008 for $60,002,500, a world record for any Russian work of art and for any work at auction that year. A museum in Amsterdam had restituted it to the family after a long dispute. The picture is later reported to have sold again, but we do not have verified details.
The number is Sotheby’s price with fees.
6. Barnett Newman, Onement VI (1953): $43.8 million
A blue field cut by a single vertical zip, consigned by Paul Allen, which sold in 2013 for a then-record $43.8 million. The sale was backed by an undisclosed third-party guarantee.
This is the reported record price.
7. Christopher Wool, Riot (1990): about $29.9 million
Big black stencilled letters, from the series that makes up most of Wool’s top sales. His work “FOOL” sold for £4.9 million ($7.7 million) in February 2012, and Apocalypse Now made about $26.4 million at Christie’s in November 2013. Riot reportedly made $29.9 million in 2015.
The Riot price rests on a single report from 2015, so it is approximate.
8. Lucio Fontana, Concetto spaziale, la fine di dio (1964): $29 million
Fontana slashed a canvas with a blade and called it a spatial concept. The work sold in November 2015 for $29 million, setting the artist’s auction record.
We took the reported Christie’s result.
9. Yves Klein, Sculpture Eponge Bleue (SE 168): $22 million
A natural sponge soaked in the ultramarine that Klein patented as International Klein Blue. It sold in May 2013 for $22 million, the highest price paid for one of his sculptures.
This is the reported Sotheby’s price.
10. Ellsworth Kelly, Red Curve VII: $9.8 million
One red curve on a white canvas. Christie’s set a record for Kelly with it in November 2019 at $9.8 million, up from $5.2 million for the 1969 Spectrum VI in 2007.
The price is from the reported record sale.
How to read these prices
An auction price is the hammer plus the buyer’s premium, and houses publish it as one number. Records also depend on the year: $86.9 million in 2012 is well over $100 million after inflation, by our estimate, and the market for post-war abstraction has moved since. Most of the sales on this list came between 2008 and 2015, a stretch when a few buyers chased a small number of major works. A price is therefore a record for a given work and moment, not a value that a similar painting would fetch tomorrow.
The ‘child could make it’ argument has a long history. Critics have said it of abstract painters for most of a century, and the market now treats those names as blue-chip assets. We make no claim about whether the art is good. The list shows what buyers paid.
Records set in 2025 and 2026
We found no new auction record for any of these artists in 2025 or 2026 in the sources we could reach. The most talked-about sale of the period was Maurizio Cattelan’s Comedian, a banana duct-taped to a wall, which made $6.2 million at Sotheby’s New York in November 2024 and would sit just below the top ten. Two editions had sold for $120,000 each at Art Basel Miami Beach in 2019. The buyer, crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun, ate the banana on stage.
What drives these prices
- Name and scarcity. Rothko painted a limited number of canvases, and the big, early ones are the rare ones.
- Size. The top prices belong to large works. Wall presence is part of what is being bought.
- Competition among a handful of buyers. Three bidders still in at $70 million is the pattern in each record sale.
- Guarantees. Third-party guarantees of the kind that backed Onement VI mean the sale is partly pre-sold.
- Concept over craft. The Cattelan banana is a certificate and instructions, not an object.
FAQ
What is the most expensive minimalist painting?
Of the works here, Mark Rothko’s Orange, Red, Yellow at $86.9 million (Christie’s, May 2012) and Barnett Newman’s Black Fire I at $84.2 million (Christie’s, May 2014).
Why do simple paintings sell for so much?
Collectors pay for the artist’s place in art history and for the rarity of major examples. The famous works come from a few years in the artist’s career.
How much did the Cattelan banana sell for?
One edition of Comedian sold for $6.2 million at Sotheby’s New York in November 2024. Two editions sold for $120,000 each in 2019.
Who sold the most expensive Twombly?
We found the highest Twombly result is New York City (1968) at $70.5 million in November 2015, ahead of the $69.6 million Untitled (1970) at Christie’s in 2014.
Could a child make these?
A child could make the marks. The market is paying for the artist’s name, history and the specific work, and many experts argue the color and proportion are not easy to copy.
Are these prices still current?
They are record auction prices, many a decade old, and we found no newer record for most of these artists.
How we put this list together
We ranked by auction price, using auction results compiled in an internal valuation model. Prices usually include buyer’s premium, are approximate, and change over time. Opinions about the art are ours.
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Last updated: October 2026.
