A NEW price-record has been set for a painting by the Edinburgh-born artist Peter Doig after one of his works sold for more than £8.4 million.

Country-Rock (Wing-Mirror) is one of three paintings of a Toronto tunnel and enjoys "supreme status" among Doig lovers.

The 1999 painting sold at Sotheby's in London last night is one of three depicting a landmark rainbow tunnel in Toronto, Canada, which is a recurring feature of Doig's work.

The tunnel was repainted by an anonymous artist more than 40 times in 20 years as the authorities tried to remove it. The painter finally identified himself as Berg Johnson, who said he first painted the tunnel aged 16 as a tribute to a friend who died in a nearby road crash.

Doig was born in the capital, but has also lived in Canada and currently lives in Trinidad, where he has an artist's studio in Port of Spain.

Cheyenne Westphal, Co-Global Head of Contemporary Art at Sotheby's, said: "For lovers of Doig, this work enjoys a supreme status.

"We were thrilled to see it set a new benchmark price for the artist … affirming yet again the market's huge appreciation for his work."

Having remained in the same collection since the year it was painted, Country-rock (wing-mirror) belongs to a series of three works which together rank among the most celebrated and desirable in the artist's oeuvre.

It was painted in London at a key turning-point in the artist's career,

Meanwhile, a Francis Bacon sold for a landmark £26.6million. The sum paid sets a new benchmark for a small-scale triptych by the artist, eclipsing the previous record of £23 million for a work in this format.

Depicting the man who was the love of Bacon's life at the moment when they were most deeply involved, Three Studies for Portrait of George Dyer (on light ground) is described as an exceptionally rare lifetime depiction of Dyer and full of the painterly exuberance that marks out Bacon as one of the greatest painters of the 20th century