re: 400 year old Renaissance painting found in French attic

Jeff Koons' Balloon Dog Sculpture Sells for Record-Breaking $58.4 Million
Million
Christie's
The sum is the highest ever paid for a work by a living artist.

Pop-art provocateur Jeff Koons has broken a world record for a price paid for a single artwork by a living artist. His sculpture "Balloon Dog (Orange)" fetched $58,405,000 at a Christie's New York auction on Tuesday night. High-end estimates suggested it might sell for as much as $55 million. (The previous record-holder was a painting by Gerhard Richter depicting an Italian city square, which sold for $37.1 million in May.) Christie's has released no information as to the identity of the winning bidder.