Since we're so excited to be a sponsor of this evenings' Renaissance Ball Late Night event, I thought I'd take a quick look into the world of art and the most expensive paintings to ever be sold.
Woof - look at that. Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi dominates as the most valuable painting ever sold pulling in near-half a billion dollars in sale value. It is also the oldest piece of art on the list - completed around 1495.
That actually leads us to an interesting point. Of the top 16 most valuable paintings above, only two were completed before 1850. Eleven were completed after 1900. The majority of the most valuable paintings in the world were painted within the last one hundred years - which I find pretty fascinating. Contemporary over classic.
Perhaps less of a surprise, when it comes to the nationality of the artist, Italy wins out in terms of total painting value. Leonoardo da Vinci and Amedeo Modigliani bolster the value of top Italian paintings to $777m. Another surprise here - US artists are in second place in terms of value - $691m in total.
Now I've whet my appetite with all this art, I'm ready to party with the Evolve crew at tonight's Late Night event. If you want to party (and yes, it is a party) with us research nerds and lots of fun fans of art, head over to the OKC Museum of Art's website and grab yourself a ticket.