DHAKA: A Norman Rockwell painting, ‘Saying Grace’, has been sold for $46m in New York, a new record for a piece of American art sold at auction.

Saying Grace shows a crowded restaurant with a grandmother and grandson bowed in prayer at a table they are sharing with two young men.

The painting’s pre-sale estimate by Sotheby’s was $15m to $20m. The buyer’s identity was not disclosed.

Ten Rockwell works in total were sold at the auction, reports the BBC.

The Gossips sold on Wednesday for just under $8.5m, while Walking to Church fetched more than $3.2m.

Many came from the family of Kenneth Stuart, the art editor at the Saturday Evening Post at the time when many of Rockwell`s paintings were featured on the magazine’s covers.

The paintings were part of a larger American art auction at Sotheby’s that took in almost $84m in total proceeds.

The previous record for the sale of an American painting at auction was set in 1999, also at Sotheby’s, when George Bellows’ Polo Crowd sold for $27.7m.

BDST: 1434 HRS, DEC 05, 2013