A 1969 painting by Francis Bacon set a world record for the most expensive artwork ever sold at auction and a sculpture by Jeff Koons broke a world auction record for a living artist at a Manhattan sale on Tuesday. 
 
 FILE - This undated file photo provided by Christie's shows Mark Rothko's bright orange-yellow and white painting "Untitled (No. 11)" which will lead Christie's post-war and contemporary art sale on Tuesday,... (Associated Press) 
 
 This undated photo provided by Christie's shows "Three Studies of Lucian Freud," a triptych by Francis Bacon of his friend and artist Lucian Freud. The painting is being offered Tuesday evening, Nov.... (Associated Press) 
 
 "Three Studies of Lucian Freud" was purchased for $142.4 million at Christie's postwar and contemporary art sale Tuesday evening. The triptych depicts Bacon's artist friend. 
 
 The work sold after "6 minutes of fierce bidding in the room and on the phone" to Acquavella Galleries in Manhattan, Christie's said in a statement. The price included the buyer's premium. 
 
 The price tag surpassed the nearly $120 million paid for Edvard Munch's "The Scream," which set a world record when it was sold at Sotheby's in a 2012 sale. 
 
 The previous record for Bacon's artwork sold at auction was the British artist's 1976 "Triptych." That sold for $86 million in 2008. 
 
 Also up for sale at Christie's evening auction was Koons' whimsical "Balloon Dog (Orange)," a 10-foot-tall stainless steel sculpture resembling a twisted child's party balloon. It sold for $58.4 million, a world auction record for the artist and a world auction record for a living artist, said Christie's. The auction house did not reveal the buyer. 
 
 It is one of five balloon dogs Koons has created in different colors. All are in private hands. It was sold by newsprint magnate Peter Brant to benefit his Brant Foundation Art Study in Greenwich, Conn. 
 
 A 1977 painting by Willem De Kooning, "Untitled VIII," sold for over $32 million, a world auction record for the artist. In 2006, De Kooning's "Untitled XXV," sold for $27.1 million. 
 
 Other highlights at Christie's included an iconic Andy Warhol, "Coca-Cola (3)," which fetched $57. 2 million. It was estimated to sell for $40 million to $60 million. The Warhol auction record is $71.7 million for "Green Car Crash (Green Burning Car I)," sold in 2007. 
 
 Also on sale was a bright orange-yellow and white oil painting by Mark Rothko. Reminiscent of a radiating sunset, the 1957 large-scale "Untitled (No. 11)" garnered over $46 million. In May 2012, Christie's sold Rothko's "Orange, Red, Yellow" for $86.8 million, a record for any contemporary artwork at auction. 
 
 The auction also featured a masterpiece by German painter Gerhard Richter from the collection of Eric Clapton. Painted in gold and orange hues, the 1994 "Abstract Painting" sold for $20.8 million. Richter's photo-based "Cathedral Square, Milan" brought $37 million at Sotheby's in May, setting a then record for any living artist at auction. 
 
 Roy Lichtenstein's "Seductive Girl" was purchased for $31.5 million. The artist's auction record is $56 million for "Woman With Flowered Hat," sold at Christie's in May. 
 
 Christie's said the Tuesday sale brought in over $691.5 million, which it said is the highest total for any single auction in history. 

 Image caption Bacon painted Three Studies of Lucian Freud at London's Royal College of Art in 1969 
 
 A painting by Francis Bacon of his friend and fellow artist Lucian Freud has become the most expensive artwork ever sold at auction after it fetched $142m (£89m, 106m euros) in New York. 
 
 The triptych, Three Studies of Lucian Freud (1969), is considered one of Bacon's greatest masterpieces. 
 
 It was sold after six minutes of fierce bidding, Christie's auction house said. 
 
 The price eclipsed the $119.9m (£74m) paid for Edvard Munch's The Scream last year. 
 
 $100M ARTWORKS Edvard Munch, The Scream - $119.9m (2012) 
 
 Picasso, Nude, Green Leaves, and Bust - $106.5m (2010) 
 
 Alberto Giacometti, Walking Man I - $104.3m (2010) 
 
 Picasso, Boy With a Pipe - $104.1m (2004) 
 
 At the same auction, Jeff Koons broke the world record for a price paid for a single artwork by a living artist. 
 
 His sculpture Balloon Dog (Orange) - one of a series of five stainless steel sculptures in varying colours - fetched $58,4m (£36.7m). 
 
 The previous record for a living artist was set by a Gerhard Richter painting depicting an Italian city square, which sold in May for $37.1 million (£23.3m). 
 
 It was the first time Three Studies of Lucian Freud had been offered at auction and bidding opened at $80m (£50m, 60m euros). Its presale estimate was $85m (£53m, 64m euros). 
 
 Analysis In a world of supply and demand, it is not surprising that Bacon's huge triptych should sell for such an amount. It's unique, it's very high quality, and from an extremely famous period in the artist's life. The subject, and Bacon's remarkable use of colour, captures a moment in art history where his friendship with Freud was at its closest. It represents a relationship that has already moved into legend. What would be wonderful is if Freud's portrait of Bacon (painted around the same time but stolen from Berlin's National Gallery in 1988) was to be recovered and put back on public display, completing the story of these modern masters' mutual admiration. 
 
 A telephone bidder won with an offer of $127 million (£80m), which, after commission, means they will pay a total of $142m. 
 
 The auction house did not disclose the identity of the buyer. 
 
 Bacon, known for his triptychs, painted Three Studies of Lucian Freud in 1969 at London's Royal College of Art, after his studio was destroyed in a fire. 
 
 Francis Outred, head of Post-War and Contemporary Art at Christie's Europe, said the work was "a true masterpiece and one of the greatest paintings to come up for auction in a current generation". 
 
 "It marks Bacon and Freud's relationship, paying tribute to the creative and emotional kinship between the two artists," he added. 
 
 The pair met in 1945 and became close companions, painting each other on a number of occasions, before their relationship cooled during the 1970s. 
 
 Exhibited in Bacon's renowned retrospective at the Grand Palais, Paris in 1971-1972, the three panels that form the painting were separated in the mid-1970s. 
 
 One panel was shown at the Tate in 1985 before the three sections were reassembled. 
 
 The complete work was displayed in New Haven, Connecticut in 1999. 
 
 It got its first ever UK public viewing at Christie's in London in October this year.
– The world's super-rich toppled plenty of records at a Christie's art auction in New York City last night—including the record for most expensive auction, which now stands at $691.5 million. A big chunk of that came from a single painting, a 1969 Francis Bacon triptych of his fellow artist Lucian Freud. Three Studies of Lucian Freud sold for $142.5 million after six minutes of frenzied bidding, shattering the record for most expensive artwork ever sold, set by last year's $120 million sale of Edvard Munch's The Scream, the BBC reports. "I was expecting it to go for around $87 million," the disappointed director of Manhattan's Shin Gallery tells the New York Times. "I loved that painting and I couldn’t control myself. Maybe someday I’ll have another chance." In other sales, Jeff Koon's 12-foot Balloon Dog (Orange) sculpture sold for $58.4 million, a world record for a living artist. World record prices were set for a total of ten artists, including Christopher Wool and Donald Judd, while Andy Warhol's Coca-Cola (3) fetched $57.2 million, $14 million short of the Warhol record, the AP reports.