A painting by American artist Mark Rothko, "Homage to Matisse," has become the most expensive work of post-World War II art at a record-breaking auction at Christie's in New York.
The painting was snapped up for 22.4 million dollars by an anonymous buyer following a three-way telephone bidding war that pushed the work beyond its high estimate of 20 million dollars.
The auction on Tuesday evening totalled 157.4 million dollars - a record for any sale of post-war and contemporary art - and set new world marks for works by numerous artists. A total of 37 works sold for more than one million dollars and 92 percent of the 66 lots sold fetched prices within or above pre-sale estimates. "It was the most amazing sale of my career," said Christopher Burge, honorary chairman of Christie's America and the evening's auctioneer.
"It was intensely exciting with a total and percentages that reveal a true hunger in the market," Burge said. "The atmosphere in the room was electric with intense bidding. It was an evening that will be a landmark event in the annals of the art market," he added.
The price paid for the 1954 Rothko - a canvas of reds, oranges and blues inspired by the colours in Henri Matisse's 1911 painting "The Red Studio" - was not only a world record for the artist, but also a record price for any work of post-war art sold at auction.
Other highlights of the sale were Roy Lichtenstein's classic 1963 Pop canvas "In the Car," which went for 16.3 million dollars, and British painter Francis Bacon's seminal work "Study for a Pope I" which bought in 10.1 million dollars. Both prices were world records for the respective artists.
Of the 70 lots up for auction on the night, only four went unsold. The demographic breakdown of buyers was 82 percent American, five percent European, three percent Asian and 10 percent other.