Jeff Koons sculpture sells for record at auction

The more than 2.75m-tall chromium stainless steel sculpture, Balloon Flower (Magenta), which mimics a flower made out of a long balloon similar to those made by party clowns or street artists, was the most expensive work by Koons sold at auction.

It had been estimated to sell for £12 million.

In the same auction, Lucian Freud's Naked Portrait with Reflection fetched £11.8 million, compared with a pre-sale estimate of between £10 million and $US15 million ($15.6 million).

Three Studies for a Self Portrait, a rare triptych by Francis Bacon which he painted in Paris in 1975 and which had never been seen in public, sold for £17.29 million, well above its pre-sale estimate of £10 million.