 De Kooning's Sail Cloth was bought by an anonymous telephone bidder |
The world's largest sale of post-war and contemporary art has raised record sums, taking $133.7m (�71.6m) at Christie's auction house in New York. Among the record sales was Edward Hopper's Chair Car, which fetched $14m (�7.5m), smashing the previous record for the artist of $2.42m (�1.2m).
Willem de Kooning's Sail Cloth prompted the auction's longest bidding war, eventually selling for $13.1m (�7m).
Other top lots included Andy Warhol's Flowers and an untitled Mark Rothko.
Christie's officials said the total easily eclipsed the previous record for a contemporary art sale of $102.1m (�54.7), set only a year ago.
Only 11 of the 76 pieces in the sale failed to sell, with records set for 17 artists' creations - including a Jasper Johns sculpture and a Roy Lichtenstein work on paper.
Christie's chairman Marc Porter said it was evidence of a strong art market, despite an unsteady economy.
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