Sotheby's New York says the 1932 painting, "Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1," sold today during the auction house's sale of American art.
The painting was sold by the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in New Mexico to benefit its acquisitions fund. The buyer bid by telephone.
Sotheby's isn't disclosing the buyer's identity. The previous world auction record for any work by a female artist was USD 11.9 million. That was the price for Joan Mitchell's "Untitled" at Christie's New York in May.