An artwork created from the world’s largest canvas painting has sold for $US62 million ($A81 million) in Dubai, the second most expensive painting sold at auction by a living artist.

The original painting, The Journey of Humanity by British artist Sacha Jafri, holds the Guinness World Record for the largest art canvas.

Painted on one large canvas on the ballroom floor of the Atlantis hotel in Dubai over seven months of the coronavirus pandemic, the canvas was split into 70 lots for sale.

They were all bought together by Andre Abdoune, a French national living in Dubai who has a cryptocurrency business.

Jafri’s aim had been to raise $US30 million for charities by auctioning the 1800 square metres of canvas in sections, but Mr Abdoune put in a bid for the entire work.

Mr Abdoune said he was planning a “second step” for the painting, hoping to raise even more money for charity, without giving further details.

For now, he intends to leave the painting in Dubai.

Sacha Jafri's 'The Journey of Humanity' (2020), now showing at @LeilaHellerG, holds the Guinness World Record title for the 'Largest Art Canvas' in the world.

— Ocula (@OculaArt) March 17, 2021

Jafri, who was in the United Arab Emirates when a coronavirus lockdown was imposed, came up with the concept for the work with themes of connection and isolation.

He used 1065 paint brushes and 6300 litres of paint.

The most expensive painting by a living artist sold at auction was David Hockney’s 1972 Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures). It sold for $US90.3 million in 2018.