A Francis Bacon painting of Lucian Freud has sold for nearly £90m, making it the most expensive work of art ever sold at auction.
The British artist's Three Studies of Lucian Freud sold for US$142,405,000 (£89,609,283) after just six minutes of bidding in New York.
The three-panelled painting created in 1969 depicts Bacon's friend Freud, a German-born British artist, sitting on a chair from three different angles.
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The painting is one of two full-length triptychs of Lucian Freud
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."
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.
Bacon's last most expensive work sold for £43m
The record price is more than double that of Bacon's second most expensive piece of artwork.
Triptych, 1976, was bought for £43 million in 2008 by Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich at an auction by Sotheby's in New York.
Bacon had previously sat as the subject for Freud, for a portrait which fetched more than £5 million at auction in 2008.
Bacon died in 1992 and Freud in 2011.