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Jeff Koons’ Rabbit sculpture has sold for $91 million (about £71 million), breaking the record price for a work by a living artist.

The BBC reports that the 41-inch steel cast of an inflatable, which was first made in 1986, sold at Christie’s in New York for more than $20m (about £15.5 million) over its estimated price. It tops David Hockney’s Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures), which sold at auction for £70 million last year.

Christie’s described the well-known Koons piece as “cute, sinister, cartoonish, imposing, vacuous, sexy, chilling, dazzling and iconic”. The sculpture was sold in 10 minutes and 40 seconds by a buyer present at the sale. He or she has decided to remain anonymous.

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Other notable sales of the evening include Louise Bourgeois’ Spider, which sold for $32 million (£24.9 million) – the second-highest amount for a female artist. Georgia O’Keefe holds the title after Jimson Weed/White Flower No 1 was bought by Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art for $44.4 million (£34.5 million).

From: Harper’s BAZAAR UK