Gerhard Richter Painting Sells for Record-Breaking $37 Million

An 1968 oil painting by German artist Gerhard Richter entitled “Domplatz, Mailand (Cathedral Square, Milan),” sold for $37 million at a recent contemporary art auction at Sotheby’s. The astounding sale sets a new world record for a work by a living artist.

Tobias Meyer, head of Sotheby’s contemporary art department and the event’s auctioneer, called the price “a major accomplishment.”

The blurry cityscape painting was purchased by Don Bryant, founder of Napa’s Bryant Family Vineyard. “This just knocks me over,” he told Reuters. “I just love it … . I just love art.”

Photo credit: Reuters/Sotheby’s