Eric Clapton to Auction Abstract Painting Worth Up to $19 Million

Get your checkbooks ready.

Eric Clapton is about to auction off an abstract painting by German artist Gerhard Richter next month at Sotheby's in London. The guitarist paid $3.4 million for the piece, titled "Abstraktes Bild (809-4)," in 2001. It's expected to sell for $14 to $19 million.

Richter, whose work can be seen on the cover of Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation album, is considered one of the most respected living artists. One of his paintings fetched $21.8 million at an auction in New York City in May.

"Abstraktes Bild (809-4)" is one of a series of four paintings Richter made in the 1990s. Three of them were sold to Clapton; the fourth is owned by the joint collection of the Tate and the National Galleries of Scotland.

The painting will hit the auction block October 12 as part of London's contemporary art evening auction.