Works by the renowned French Post-Impressionist master Paul Cézanne continue to fetch astronomical prices whenever they appear at auction, with collectors and institutions willing to pay hundreds of millions for his masterpieces. In 2022, one of his iconic Mont Sainte-Victoire paintings sold for nearly $140 million, while a version of "The Card Players" was purchased for over $250 million in 2011, establishing Cézanne as one of the most valuable artists in the contemporary art market.

The irony of Cézanne's current market dominance becomes apparent when considering the historical rejection he faced in his hometown. Henri Pontier, who served as curator of the Granet Museum in Aix-en-Provence during Cézanne's lifetime, famously declared that no Cézanne work would enter the museum while he was alive. By closing the door to the painter, both the Granet Museum and its curator deprived themselves of what would become invaluable treasures, as Cézanne's works now command some of the highest prices in the art world.

The 2011 private sale that sent shockwaves through the art market involved one version of "The Card Players," which had belonged to deceased Greek billionaire George Embiricos. This particular version was the last remaining in private hands when Qatar's ruling dynasty purchased it for a sum that reportedly reached or exceeded $250 million. At the time, this transaction set a record for the most expensive artwork ever sold, establishing Cézanne among the elite tier of artists whose works command nine-figure sums.

Although Cézanne's record was eventually surpassed, notably by the 2017 purchase of Leonardo da Vinci's "Salvator Mundi" for $450 million by Saudi Arabia's crown prince, the French master remains firmly positioned in the top five most expensive painting sales in history. This sustained market performance demonstrates the enduring appeal and investment value of Cézanne's distinctive Post-Impressionist style and his revolutionary approach to form and color.

More recently, in 2022, Cézanne once again made headlines in the art world when another of his favorite subjects commanded extraordinary prices at auction. During Christie's sale of the collection belonging to Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who passed away in 2018, a Mont Sainte-Victoire painting became one of five works to surpass the symbolic $100 million threshold. The auction, held in New York, featured an exceptional lineup of masterpieces that demonstrated the continued strength of the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist market.

Cézanne found himself in distinguished company during the Paul Allen collection sale, with works by Vincent van Gogh, Georges Seurat, Paul Gauguin, and Gustav Klimt also achieving remarkable prices. His Mont Sainte-Victoire canvas, depicting the mountain that dominated the landscape around his native Aix-en-Provence, was ultimately sold for $137.9 million. While this fell $10 million short of Seurat's "Les Poseuses Ensemble," which claimed the top spot in the sale, it notably exceeded van Gogh's "Orchard with Cypresses" by $20 million, reaffirming Cézanne's position among the most sought-after artists by serious collectors and institutions worldwide.