Works by Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse have been sold at a Sotheby's sale of impressionist and modern art in New York, with new records for works by Edvard Munch and cubist Fernand Leger helping to calm some fears over the health of the art market.
A record was also set at the Wednesday evening auction for a painting by Swiss artist Alberto Giacometti, a night after all-time high prices were paid for works by Claude Monet and Auguste Rodin.
Munch's "Girls on a bridge," described by Sotheby's as "one of the artist's most widely popular and lyrical compositions," sold for 30.8 million dollars to a telephone bidder.
Leger's "Etude pour 'La Femme en Bleu'" went to a buyer in the room for 39.2 million dollars, while Giacometti's "Portrait de Caroline" fetched 14.6 million dollars.
There has been widespread concern in recent months that the art market could be feeling the fallout from the US housing crisis and credit crunch, but auction houses have insisted that top works are continuing to find buyers.
