Billionaire hedge fund manager Ken Griffin has spent nearly $500 million on paintings by Abstract Expressionist masters Willem de Kooning and Jackson Pollock. It ranks among the biggest private art deals ever, with the Pollock price matching Qatar's $300 million purchase of Paul Gauguin's "When Will You Marry?"

A source with knowledge of the transaction says Griffin bought de Kooning’s 1955 oil on canvas titled “Interchanged” -- also known as “Interchange” -- for about $300 million and Pollock’s 1948 “Number 17A" canvas for about $200 million. Both prices are records for the artists. The works were purchased from entertainment mogul David Geffen's foundation.

The de Kooning and the Pollock went on display at the Art Institute of Chicago in September 2015. Griffin is a trustee of the museum.