The one living artist who is dominating the art market at present is Gerhard Richter, with a seemingly unquenchable appetite among buyers for his works. Earlier this year even hardened auction room habitués were startled by the $21.8m given in New York for a “squeegee” abstract, which set a new world record.

Now, just five months later, a very comparable work has hurtled to a stratospheric £21.3m.

Since the death of Lucien Freud, Richter is widely acknowledged as the greatest living painter today, a reputation only reinforced by the recent retrospectives at the Tate and Neu Nationalgalerie in Berlin.

For the art market his work is seen as unassailably safe, at a time when investment in art is the hot ticket. And, Richter has been a great investment for those who bought early, such as Clapton.

Richter’s late, abstract works are particularly sought after because of their broad appeal: colourful abstracts which can fit into any interior, cannot offend anyone (unlike some of his tougher earlier works which deal with death or politics) and are recognizable trophies which give the owner immense bragging rights.

Cynics point out that, as well, they are domestically sized, so ideal for a luxury apartment – or yacht. And, as Richter is now aged 80, the market recognises that he will not be painting forever.

Add to this a career carefully managed by long-term American dealer Marian Goodman, and by the artist himself, who maintains a detailed website enabling prospective buyers to identify all his work and its sale history – something that has particular appeal to those with investment interest.

Finally, his market is global: buyers come from all over, from South Korea or Brazil as well as from the US, which has a solid appetite for his work.

The Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich has another squeegee work, bought for $15.2m in 2008, and there is reason to think that this week’s buyer was also from Russia.