The record for the most expensive painting sold by a living artist belongs to Jasper Johns (USA) whose False Start (1959), was bought privately by Kenneth (USA) and Anne Griffin (France) for $80 million (£42 million) in October 2006.

The auction record also belongs to Johns whose Figure 4 (1959) sold for $17.4 million (£8.7 million) at Christie’s, New York, USA on 16 May 2007.