Pop Art produced some of the most recognizable images of the twentieth century. Artists drew on advertising, film, comic strips, and celebrity culture, bringing imagery from everyday life into the gallery. By the 1960s, Pop Art had become one of the defining movements in contemporary art and later one of the most commercially successful. Today, works by artists such as Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein rank among the most expensive artworks ever sold at auction.
This list includes publicly reported prices for major Pop Art works as of 2026. Most entries are based on officially disclosed auction results, while a small number of historically significant private sales are included when the reported price has been widely confirmed by major art market sources. Prices are presented in nominal terms, meaning they show the reported amount at the time of sale rather than figures adjusted for inflation.
 

5. Roy Lichtenstein — Nurse (1964)

Sale price: $95.4 million
Auction house: Christie’s, New York
Sale date: November 2015
Roy Lichtenstein’s Nurse is one of the most recognizable paintings from his comic-book-inspired period of the early 1960s. The work translates the visual language of printed romance comics into large-scale painting, complete with Ben-Day dots and bold outlines. Its dramatic close-up composition and instantly recognizable imagery helped it achieve one of the highest auction prices ever recorded for a Lichtenstein work.
Why It Sold High:
A quintessential Lichtenstein image from the peak Pop Art years, with strong visual recognition and museum-level significance.
 

4. Andy Warhol — Eight Elvises (1963)

Sale price: Reportedly $100 million
Auction house: Reported private sale
Sale date:  2008
This monumental silver canvas presents eight repeated images of Elvis Presley dressed as a gunslinger from a Hollywood publicity photograph. The work brings together many of Pop Art’s defining themes, including celebrity culture, mass media, and American mythology. Its scale, rarity, and visual impact have made it one of the most celebrated works from Warhol’s early 1960s output.
Why It Sold High:
A large-scale Warhol centered on one of the artist’s most recognizable celebrity subjects, combining Hollywood imagery with his signature silkscreen style.

3. Andy Warhol — Triple Elvis (Ferus Type) (1963)

Sale price: $81.9 million
Auction house: Christie’s, New York
Sale date:  November 2014
Part of Warhol’s famous Elvis series, the work presents the singer-turned-actor repeated three times in a stark, cinematic composition. The image comes from a publicity still used to promote the Western film Flaming Star, and Warhol’s repetition transforms Elvis into a mass-produced icon. The painting was originally exhibited at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles, one of the earliest galleries to present Pop Art in the United States.
Why It Sold High:
A historically important early Warhol associated with the Ferus Gallery exhibition that brought Pop Art to wider attention on the West Coast.

2. Andy Warhol — Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster) (1963)

Sale price: $105.4 million
Auction house: Sotheby’s, New York
Sale date:  November 2013
Part of Warhol’s darker Death and Disaster series, Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster) juxtaposes repeated photographs of a fatal car accident with a vast empty silver field. The work explores the relationship between tragedy, repetition, and mass-media imagery. At the time of its sale, it set a record for the highest price ever paid for a Warhol work at auction.
Why It Sold High:
A rare large-scale example from Warhol’s critically important Death and Disaster series, widely considered one of the most significant bodies of work in Pop Art.

1. Andy Warhol — Shot Sage Blue Marilyn (1964)

Sale price: $195 million
Auction house: Christie’s, New York
Sale date:  May 2022
Shot Sage Blue Marilyn belongs to Warhol’s celebrated Marilyn Monroe series, created shortly after the actress’s death. Derived from a publicity photograph for the film Niagara, the image became one of the defining icons of Pop Art. The painting’s title refers to a 1964 incident in which a visitor to Warhol’s studio fired a revolver through a stack of Marilyn canvases. When it sold in 2022, the work became the most expensive twentieth-century artwork ever sold at auction at the time.
Why It Sold High:
A legendary Warhol subject with exceptional cultural recognition and rarity, combined with strong collector demand for museum-quality Pop Art masterpieces.