Records were shattered on Tuesday at Sotheby's US$255 million auction of contemporary and postwar art, the biggest in history, which was led by a US$73 million Rothko and a US$53 million Bacon.
Both works obliterated the old mark for any postwar work at auction of US$27.1 million set last November and far exceeded their pre-sale estimates, ushering in a new world of higher prices for contemporary art...Records were set for 15 artists in all, including Jean-Michel Basquiat, whose untitled work from 1981 fetched US$14.6 million including commission, about twice its estimate and nearly three times the artist's old record. The work was being sold by the Israel Museum.
