Whether you are an art collector or not, you should know that many pieces are incredibly expensive. Art work can be extremely valuable when done by the right person. As a result, you would need to win the lottery to afford any of them.

One example of this is a painting called Nafea Faa lpoipo, which translates to “when will you marry?” in the English language. This painting is the work of an artist called Paul Gauguin. He served as an inspiration for many of today’s most revered artists. The painting shows a pair of women with a stunning landscape in the background. It was sold for the equivalent of $300 million, and goes on record as the most expensive piece of artwork to ever be purchased by an individual.

Another example is the works of Paul Cezanne, specifically his five different depictions of a famous painting called The Card Players. Though four of them are currently housed in museums, one of them was purchased. With a price tag in excess of $250 million, it made history in 2012 for being the most expensive piece of artwork ever sold.

Not all of the world’s most expensive pieces of art have been sold only to individuals. In fact, an entire family sold a set of two famous paintings jointly to the Louvre and the Rijksmuseum. The two museums teamed up to pay roughly $180 million for these paintings. Both museums take their turns displaying the portraits of Oopjen Coppit, and Marten Soolmans.

At just slightly less, a Picasso painting, Les Femmes D’Alger, was auctioned off to the highest bidder for $179.3 million. No other artwork purchased from a auction sold for more than this one did. While there are 15 variations of Les Femmes D’Alger, the one that sold at auction was the ‘O’ variation.

An artist called Amedeo Modigilani painted Nu couche, which translates to Reclining Nude. Of all the pieces this artist created few are more widely recognized than this one. As a result, it defied the expectations of the auctioneer that projected selling it for $100 million and instead sold it for $170.4 million.

In 1953 a painting was created called Woman Ill. It is distinct for its five feet in length, and is part of a series of paintings about females. While the others are owned by public entities, this piece of work was purchased by a billionaire who paid $137.5 million, despite the painting’s value of $162.4 million. This makes it number seven on the list of the world’s most expensive pieces of art.

In 1990 a Vincent Van Gogh painting was purchased for $82.5 million. Portrait of Dr. Gachet was completed by Van Gogh during the last year of his life. Christie’s Auction House later sold the painting for over twice the amount they had originally expected to get for it.