A Francis Bacon painting of his friend and fellow artist Lucian Freud became the most expensive artwork ever sold at an auction.

The triptych, 'Three Studies of Lucian Freud (1969),' which is one of Bacon's greatest masterpieces, fetched $142 million (£89 million, 106 million euros) at the Christie's auction house in New York. The painting surpassed Edvard Munch's The Scream sold in May 2012 at Sotheby's.

Artist Francis Bacon's "Three Studies of Lucian Freud" is seen during a media preview at Christie's Auction House in New York in this file photo taken October 31, 2013. Christie's sale on Tuesday is led by Bacon' 1969 triptych, "Three Studies of Lucian Freud," which has never been offered at auction and carries a pre-sale estimate of about $85 million - the highest ever exceeding even that of Edvard Munch's "The Scream," which sold for a record $120 million last year. (REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/Files)

The painting was estimated to sell at $85 million. The bidding Tuesday started at $80 million. After six minutes of fierce bidding calls, the artwork was sold at $142 million. It overtook the $119.9 million (£74 million) for Edvard Munch's The Scream that was fetched in May 2012 at Sotheby's.

The work sold after "six minutes of fierce bidding in the room and on the phone" to Acquavella Galleries in Manhattan, Christie's said in a statement.

The previous record for a Bacon work of art was $86.3 million set in 2008. The monumental painting by Bacon was of his Dublin-born painter's friend seated on a chair, with a view from each side and one face-on.

Christie's auction house called the painting "a true masterpiece that marks Bacon and Freud's relationship" and their "creative and emotional kinship."

Christie's did not disclose the identity of the successful buyer.

In another achievement, a sculpture by Jeff Koons also broke the world auction record for a living artist at Christie's postwar and contemporary art sale Tuesday evening.

The sculpture by Koons, which fetched $58.4 million, was the whimsical Balloon Dog (Orange), a 10 feet tall stainless steel sculpture resembling a twisted child's party balloon.

Other auctions at Christie's Tuesday included an iconic Andy Warhol, Coca-Cola, which fetched $57.2 million. It was estimated to sell for $40 million to $60 million.