World’s most expensive art work sold for $142.4m

The Three Studies of Lucien Freud, by Francis Bacon, went up for auction in New York on Sunday 10th November 2013 and fetched a total sum of $142.4 million, making it the most expensive art work ever sold at auction

The landmark sale is another reminder of the potential for returns within the art sector, as the commodity asset retains and grows in value over time. Indeed, the Christie’s auction generated a total of $691.6 million, the highest sum ever raised in a single auction.

The Bacon painting itself is not a famous work, notes Forbes, but the owners purchased it and the other two pieces that make up the triptych separately before reuniting them into one object – a shrewd investment with profitable returns.

One other seller who did nicely was Eric Clapton, who purchased three Gerhard Richter paintings, only to split them up and sell them individually. The group cost him $3.4 million in 2001. Last year, his first sale attracted $34.2 million, while his second received $20.8 million.

 Other sellers were less lucky, with one piece by Cattelan selling for $965,000, lower than its original purchase price of $1.5 million at a 2010 auction, while six more failed to sell.