Top Twenty Prints of All Time

Note: for the most updated 2023 Warhol market data, click here.

2022’s list of the twenty most valuable Warhol prints sold is unique in several ways. In years past, the rankings have been scattered across a smattering of years. This year, one top print sale was in 2019, two were in 2021, and the remaining seventeen were in 2022. Those numbers reflect the movement of the entire top tier of the market decisively upward.

Queen Elizabeth II has vied with Marilyn for the most valuable Warhol print on and off since 2010. 2022 brought another celebrity onto the scene: Mickey Mouse. And throughout 2022, the title passed between Double Mickey Mouse and Queen Elizabeth several times, crescendoing toward the end of the year. Queen Elizabeth set a new record in September of $641,569. Double Mickey Mouse beat that in October, with a sales price of $819,000. And Queen Elizabeth had the last word in November, with a decisive top-selling price of $855,602. The dramatically rising values of both prints resulted in an unprecedented increase in the average of the top three most valuable prints sold.

The top seven prints of all time are the diamond dust versions, a small distinction lent to them by Warhol. On top of that, every Double Mickey Mouse print is unique, giving it an inherent edge over any other print. As for the Marilyns, only three of the ten unique prints in the portfolio sold. One is the striking black-and-white version—alone in its absence of color.

Finally, the rankings usually include a variety of prints. In 2022, eleven of the top twenty are Queen Elizabeth prints. In fact, prints from only three portfolios are represented this year: Queen Elizabeth, Marilyn, and Mickey Mouse. The following images of the top twenty most valuable Warhol prints ever sold are full of repeat images of three celebrities, a celebration of the immortality of each subject—and an homage of its own to Warhol’s art.