Rothko work hits record $86.9m at Christie's auction

The artwork Orange, red, yellow by Mark Rothko has achieved the highest ever price for a piece of contemporary art at auction - fetching $86.9m (£53.8m).

The 1961 painting was sold at Christie's in New York.

The auction house said the total takings of $388.5m had beaten the previous record for a contemporary art auction, set in 2007.

Last week Edvard Munch's The Scream set the world record for an artwork - selling for $119.9m.

Another high-profile contemporary art auction takes place on Wednesday - when Roy Lichtenstein's Sleeping Girl is the pick of the pieces going under the hammer at Sotheby's in New York.

On Tuesday, Orange, red, yellow soared past the previous Rothko record of $72.84m.

Sales director Laura Paulson said the work was a personification of the art of Rothko, who died in New York in 1970.

A total of 14 artists recorded new highs for their works, including the $36.5m paid for Yves Klein's piece FC1 and the $21.8m registered for Gerhard Richter's Abstraktes Bild.