In the last few years the amount paid for the three most expensive artworks would be enough to buy 5,000 brand new Bentley Continentals, or to pay the annual salaries of more than 25,000 nurses. This lecture is about the top end of the art market and is an excuse to examine some beautiful and varied art. So, we’ll see some wonderful paintings including works by Picasso, Cezanne, Leonardo, Rembrandt, Modigliani, Klimt, Bacon and Pollock, all held together by the common thread of their extraordinary commercial value. We will also look at the buyers and sellers, the stories behind the works and the reasons why they have been changing hands recently. Finally, Ian Swankie will try to answer the question “Are they really worth all of these hundreds of millions of pounds?” Ian is a Londoner with a passion for art and architecture. He is an official guide at Tate Modern, Tate Britain, and St Paul’s Cathedral, as well as being an accredited lecturer for The Arts Society and a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Art Scholars.