London art auctions raise millions in record week

London, Feb 10: A week of record-breaking impressionist and contemporary art auctions in London raised more than 385 million pounds auction houses Christie's and Sotheby's said.

Buyers from Russia, Asia and the West Asia, many entering the market for the first time, helped propel prices to new highs, said Christie's European President, Jussi Pylkkanen.

''It is this increased competition from clients from every corner of the world that is driving the healthy and robust growth of this global market,'' he said.

A 50-year-old painting by Dublin-born artist Francis Bacon ''Study For Portrait II'' set the highest price of the week.

The 1956 oil on canvas work, one of Bacon's famed papal portraits, sold at Christie's on Thursday for 14.02 million pounds, a record for the artist.

The 1921 ''L'homme au foulard Rouge'' by French expressionist Chaim Soutine went for 8.76 million pounds at Sotheby's on Monday, another artist record and more than five times the price it made in 1997.

Also sold at Sotheby's was British painter Peter Doig's 1991 ''White Canoe'', going for 5.73 million pounds, the highest price ever achieved for a living European artist.

During the week the two auction houses sold 85 works for over 1 million pounds each and 153 for over 1 million dollar.

Christie's said its sales total of 200 million pounds was a record for any week of art sales in Europe.

Sotheby's said it raised a total of 186 million pounds, with each of the five sales at its New Bond Street auction rooms breaking house records.

''These sales re-established London's pre-eminence as a hub of the global art market, with an ability to attract collectors from all over the world to compete for top quality works of art across a broad range of categories,'' said Sotheby's International Chief Executive Robin Woodhead.

Reuters