Sotheby's Sets Art History

Bloomberg reports that Sotheby's held the biggest art auction in its history, selling $315.9 million of contemporary art only one week after a disappointing Impressionist sale knocked its shares down 28 percent in a day. Jeff Koons's 3,500-pound, hot-pink, stainless-steel "Hanging Heart (Magenta/Gold)" sold for $23.6 million, a record for Koons that established him as the priciest living artist at auction. Dealer Larry Gagosian was the buyer. Thirteen art auction records were surpassed last night as the house easily topped the presale $298.7 million high estimate. Just six of the 71 lots failed to sell. Sotheby's benefited from the momentum generated Nov. 13 at Christie's International's contemporary art sale, which totaled $325 million and set 12 auction records for individual artists. Sotheby's shares rose $3.75, or 11 percent, to $38.55 at 9:46 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Francis Bacon's 6 1/2-foot-tall canvas of a swirling man and bull, set against a mustard and orange ring, was the evening's top lot. Estimated to fetch more than $35 million, it sold for $46 million to private dealer Philippe Segalot. Bacon's 14-by-12-inch ``Self Portrait'' (1969) doubled a $15 million estimate, selling to an anonymous phone bidder for $33.1 million. Sotheby's sale last night topped a $286.2 million record that stood for 17 years, set in a May 1990 Impressionist and modern auction. (For full source and full article click the Headline). Irish Art