A masterpiece by American painter Norman Rockwell sold at auction Wednesday for $46 million - the highest price ever paid for a American artwork.
"Saying Grace" shows an old woman and a young boy praying before a meal in a small restaurant while two puzzled men look on.
Rockwell painted it for a cover of The Saturday Evening Post magazine in 1951.
Sotheby's Auction House in New York did not name the buyer.
Two other Rockwell works, "The Gossips" and "Walking to Church," also sold Wednesday for $8.5 and $3.2 million.
Rockwell created hundreds of covers for The Saturday Evening Post between 1916 and 1963.
The paintings were vivid and detailed portrayals of typical scenes of daily life in the United States - most of them lighthearted, but some serious and touching.
Rockwell is still one of America's most popular artists, 35 years after his death.
"Saying Grace" shows an old woman and a young boy praying before a meal in a small restaurant while two puzzled men look on.
Rockwell painted it for a cover of The Saturday Evening Post magazine in 1951.
Sotheby's Auction House in New York did not name the buyer.
Two other Rockwell works, "The Gossips" and "Walking to Church," also sold Wednesday for $8.5 and $3.2 million.
Rockwell created hundreds of covers for The Saturday Evening Post between 1916 and 1963.
The paintings were vivid and detailed portrayals of typical scenes of daily life in the United States - most of them lighthearted, but some serious and touching.
Rockwell is still one of America's most popular artists, 35 years after his death.
