Sotheby's auction sets contemporary art sales record

London, February 29 : An auction of artwork has set a record for contemporary art auctions in Europe with the total sales exceeding 95million pounds, says Sotheby's.

The London auction house has revealed that the artwork sold at the auction included masterpieces by Francis Bacon and Andy Warhol.

While Bacon's 1969 Study of 'Nude With Figure In A Mirror' was snapped up by a European private collector for nearly 20million pounds, Warhol's rare trinity of canvases from 1986 called 'Three Self Portraits' fetched almost 11.5million pounds from an anonymous buyer.

The auction also saw another of Bacon's work-a small portrait thought to be the first portrayal of his last great love, John Edwards-selling for about two million pounds.

Lucio Fontana's Concetto Spaziale, La Fine Di Dio sold for over 10million pounds, about 6million pounds more than the estimated sale price. The sale also broke Fontana's previous record price of 2.4million pounds.

While Jeff Koons' sculpture Kiepenkerl was expected to fetch between 1.5million to 2.5million pounds, it sold for over three-million pounds.

According to the BBC, artwork by Gilbert and George, Bridget Riley and Andreas Gursky were also sold.

ANI