One of the paintings from British artist Damien Hirst's highly acclaimed "Butterfly" series has sold for a record of 17.22 million HK dollars (US$ 2.22 million), the Seoul Auction said on Wednesday.

The piece, featuring thousands of live butterflies on a dark blue canvas surface to form a beautiful "window", was the star of the modern and contemporary art auction held by Seoul Auction in Hong Kong Wednesday. It finally went to an Asian bidder with a record price for Hirst's works sold in Asia.

Hirst was born in 1965. He was known as one of the world's most famous and commercially successful contemporary artists. " Tranquillity", another piece by Hirst, sold for 13.37 million HK dollars in May in Hong Kong.

Oil painting titled "Flowers in a White Vase" by famous Chinese female artist Sanyu fetched 16.95 million HK dollars (US$ 2.19 million) at the auction.