A painting by Irish born artist Francis Bacon has become the most expensive work of art ever auctioned.
It's called Three Studies of Lucian Freud and fetched over $142 million at Christie's in New York.
Auctioneer Jussi Pylkkanen says it's a record price:
Three Studies of Lucian Freud
The British artist's Three Studies of Lucian Freud sold for $142,405,000 after just six minutes of bidding in New York.
It eclipsed the $119.9m price of Edvard Munch's The Scream, achieved in May, 2012, at Sotheby's.
Brutal physicality
The three-panelled painting created in 1969 depicts the German artist sitting on a chair from three different angles.
It brings together two of the 20th century's greatest figurative painters, auction house Christie's said.
"Three Studies of Lucian Freud, executed in 1969, is a true masterpiece that marks Bacon and Freud's relationship, paying tribute to the creative and emotional kinship between the two artists," Francis Outred of Christie's Europe said.
"The juxtaposition of radiant sunshine yellow contrasting with the brutal physicality and immediacy of the brushstrokes in this celebrated life-size triptych is what makes Bacon's art so remarkable."
Panels recently reunited
The painting stands as one of only two existing full-length triptychs of Lucian Freud, and for almost 15 years the three panels were separated before being reunited in the 1980s.
The record price is more than double that of Bacon's second most expensive piece of artwork.
Triptych, 1976, was bought for €51 million in 2008 by Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich at an auction by Sotheby's in New York.
Bacon died in 1992 and Freud in 2011.
