Koons’s ‘Rabbit’ fetches record 91m dollars at New York auction

A stainless steel sculpture of a rabbit by Jeff Koons has set an auction record in New York, fetching more than 91 million dollars (£70.9 million)

The sale of Koons’s 1986 “Rabbit” at Christie’s on Wednesday was the most expensive work by a living artist to be sold at auction.

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The previous record was set by British artist David Hockney.

His 1972 Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) brought in 90.3 million dollars at Christie’s last year.

The New York Times said Robert E Mnuchin, an art dealer and the father of Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin, was the winning bidder for “Rabbit”, which had an estimated sale price of at least 50 million dollars.

Christie’s says the sculpture is one of three editions plus one artist’s proof.