LONDON (AFP) — A contemporary art auction raised 95 million pounds (125 million euros, 188 million dollars) on Wednesday in London, the highest total for such a sale in Europe, auction house Sotheby's said.
The highlight of the evening was Francis Bacon's "Study Of Nude With Figure In A Mirror", which was bought by a private European collector for 19.9 million pounds, compared to its pre-sale estimate of at least 18 million pounds.
Before the night began, the auction had been expected to raise about 72 million pounds.
Despite the high price for the Bacon painting, the record for an artist at auction was established last May, when his "Study From Innocent X" (1962) sold for 26.58 million pounds.
Andy Warhol's "Three Self Portraits", three canvasses dating from 1986, fetched 11.4 million pounds, and were sold to an anonymous buyer. The work had been expected to sell for 10 million pounds.
Meanwhile, "Concetto Spaziale" by Lucio Fontana smashed both the pre-sale estimate and the record for a work by the artist at auction, four million pounds and 2.4 million pounds respectively, to sell for 10.3 million pounds.
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