What is the highest price paid for a painting?

The highest price paid recently at auction for an American painter was a Mark Rothko painting sold for $72,840,000 on May 15, 2007. The painting is 'White Center (Yellow, Pink and Lavendar on Rose)'.

The highest price to date was 104 million dollars in 2004 for Picasso's Garçon à la pipe, painted in 1905.