 Willem de Kooning died in 1997 |
The contemporary art market proved its strength as a New York auction raised more than $74.5m (�44.3m). The most expensive to be sold at the Sotheby's sale was Willem de Kooning's 1959 Spike's Folly I.
The abstract oil fetched $11.2m (�6.6m) against an estimate of between $10m (�5.9m) and $15m (�8.9m).
Mark Rothko's No8 (White Stripe) from 1958 reached $8.8m (�5.5M), while work by Agnes Martin and Roy Lichtenstein reached record prices.
Lichtenstein's sculpture Woman: Sunlight, Moonlight went for $2.1m (�1.2m), nearly doubling the record for a piece by the late American pop artist.
Brice Marden's Leaves reached $2.5m (�1.4m), passing its high estimate of $2.2m (�1.3m).
Similar success
"It was a fantastic success," said Tobias Meyer, Sotheby's worldwide head of contemporary art.
"The market for contemporary art is I think stronger than ever, and we're thrilled and very, very happy."
Dublin-born Francis Bacon's Three Studies for Portrait of Lucian Freud had a high bid of $3.8m (�2.2m).
But Jeff Koons' Popples and Arshile Gorky's Portraits of YD failed to sell during the auction.
Christie's in New York had a similar success with its contemporary art auction on Tuesday, with an untitled outdoor work in red steel by American Alexander Calder going for a record $5,8m (�3.4m).
One-Minute World News 
News services
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 