14 Oct 2012

Richter painting sold for £21m

10:21 am on 14 October 2012

An abstract oil painting by German artist Gerhard Richter has sold in London for £21 million - an auction record for a work by a living artist.

Abstraktes Bild, (1994), from the collection of rock guitarist Eric Clapton, was sold to an anonymous buyer after five minutes of bidding late on Friday. It had been expected to reach £9 - £12 million.

Richter, 80, lives in Cologne. The BBC reports he is considered by some to be the world's greatest living painter.

A sister painting of the work is currently jointly owned by the Tate and the National Galleries of Scotland.