Record Price for a Painting by a Living Artist

The painting had been predicted to reach around US$35 million at auction, but while it didn't quite reach that Lucian Freud's painting "Benefits Supervisor Sleeping" did set a new record price for a painting by a living artist of $33.6 million (£17.2 million). According to the BBC, this record was previously held by Jeff Koons' "Hanging Heart", which had sold for $23.5 million (£12.1 million).

See Also:
• Lucian Freud Photo Gallery: The Painter's Etchings
• Book Review: Freud at Work

^{Image: Benefits Supervisor Sleeping by Lucian Freud, 1995. Photo © Cate Gillon/Getty Images}