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"LONDON \u2014 Stoked by a half-dozen Gerhard Richter paintings chased by an international cast of hungry bidders, the contemporary art market maintained its surging pace at Sotheby\u2019s tonight, realizing \u00A350,688,450 ($79,672,106).&amp;nbsp;The tally clipped pre-sale expectations of \u00A334.5-48 million ($54.2-75.5 million), and improved on last February's \u00A344.3-48 million ($71 million).&amp;nbsp;Only six of the 63 lots offered failed to find buyers for a slim buy-in rate by lot of 9.5 percent and five percent by value.&amp;nbsp;Nine&amp;nbsp;lots sold for over a million pounds and 21 over one million dollars.&amp;nbsp;Two artist records were set, both by German artists, Albert Oehlen and A.R. Penck.The quick tempo sale, navigated by auctioneer Tobias Meyer,&amp;nbsp;motored along at autobahn speeds as Andreas Gursky\u2019s \u201CJames Bond Island I\u201D (2007), from an edition of five, sold to Bona Montagu of London\u2019s Simon Dickinson Gallery for \u00A3713,250 ($1.1 million) (est. \u00A3300-400,000).&amp;nbsp;\u201CMy clients are delighted,\u201D said Bona, who beat out five other bidders. \u201CIt\u2019s quite an iconic piece. European works by classic Postwar artists were in keen demand as Yves Klein\u2019s \u201CANT 59\u201D (1960), a pigment in synthetic resin on paper laid down on canvas and bearing the unmistakable imprint of a woman\u2019s body sold to a telephone bidder for \u00A3937,250 ($1.5 million) (est. \u00A3450-650,000).&amp;nbsp;It last sold at Sotheby\u2019s London in June 2009 for \u00A3457,250 ($751,314).&amp;nbsp;Doubling its value in 32 months is a sure sign of a market recovery.Another Klein, \u201CF130,\u201D one of the artist\u2019s so-called fire paintings, blow-torched in charred pasteboard on wood panel from circa 1961, sold to Zurich dealer Mathias Rastorfer of Galerie Gmurzynska for \u00A3253,250 ($398,058) (est. \u00A3250-350,000).&amp;nbsp;\u201CThese were OK paintings,\u201D said Rastorfer, who also was an underbidder for \u201CANT 59,\u201D \u201Cbut not outstanding ones. You\u2019ll definitely be seeing greater Kleins coming out.\u201DItalian artists were also drawing intense interest as Alberto Burri\u2019s \u201CNero Plastica\u201D (1965), comprised of artfully burned jet black plastic on canvas, sold to London\u2019s Helly Nahmad Gallery for \u00A32 million ($3.2 million) (est. \u00A3800,000-1.2 million). At least four other bidders chased the Burri, another strong signal of a market hungry for good material.Another Burri abstraction, lot 18, \u201CComposizione\u201D (1952), in oil and mixed media on fabric and canvas sold to Milan\u2019s Galeria Tega for \u00A3481,250 ($756,429) (est. \u00A3400-500,000).&amp;nbsp;\u201CI bought it for a client,\u201D said Giulia Tega, \u201Cand it looks like there are new buyers from all over the world. Europe is very quiet right now,\u201D opined the dealer, \u201Cand the U.S. and the Far East are more active.\u201DThough Sotheby\u2019s doesn\u2019t provide geographic breakdowns on buyers in percentage terms, the house did reveal that buyers came from 20 different countries, but without identifying which ones.&amp;nbsp;Still, the appearance of two Zao Wou-Ki abstract landscapes in London indicated the probability of strong Asian interest as \u201C28.12.99\u201D (1999), close in temperament to a tranquil AbEx-styled painting, sold to an anonymous telephone bidder \u00A31.8 million ($2.9 million) (est. \u00A3500-700,000).Zao Wou-Ki\u2019s \u201C10.01.91\u201D (1991) \u2014 the system of titling is similar to On Kawara \u2014 sold to another telephone bidder for \u00A31.6 million ($2.5 million) (est. \u00A3600-800,000).&amp;nbsp;For comparison sake, a painting by the artist sold at Sotheby\u2019s Hong Kong last October for a record $8.8 million.But the serious money tonight was largely reserved for Gerhard Richter, who one could say is the most bankable living artist on the planet right now.&amp;nbsp;There were a half dozen of his paintings on offer, overwhelmingly in the abstract mode, though \u201CIce (Eis)\u201D (1981), a heavily romantic and Caspar David Friedrich-like photo-based painting of icebergs sold to a telephone bidder for \u00A34.3 million ($6.8 million) (est. \u00A32-3 million).&amp;nbsp;At least five bidders chased the compact trophy.&amp;nbsp;It certainly doesn\u2019t hurt the Richter market that his traveling retrospective that began at Tate Modern last year is still on the road (in Germany). For whatever reason, Richters of every stripe and price find a buyer.Richter\u2019s gray-and-white-hued \u201CAbstraktes Bild (768-4)\u201D (1992), resembling a vertical forest of birch trees, sold to another telephone bidder for the evening's top lot price of \u00A34.9 million ($7.6 million) (est. \u00A33-4 million).&amp;nbsp;Altogether, the half dozen Richters brought a whopping \u00A317.6 million ($27.7 million), compared to the high estimate of the grouping, which had the paintings topping out at \u00A314.8 million.\u201CIf there are two artists who are hot in my book,\u201D ventured New York dealer Christophe van de Weghe as he strode out of the salesroom, \u201Cthey are Basquiat and Richter. That\u2019s what appeals to young collectors today.\u201DVan de Weghe was referring to the strong performance of a good but not great Basquiat painting, \u201COrange Sports Figure\u201D (1982), an early, prime work in acrylic, oil stick and spray paint on canvas, depicting in part a grinning head and a suspended baseball. It sold to a telephone bidder for a little more than \u00A34 million ($6.4 milliom) (est. \u00A33-4 million).&amp;nbsp;According to Sotheby\u2019s, the artist\u2019s signature and date are scrawled on the bottom right-hand side of the canvas in invisible ink.Two other Basquiats were offered, including \u201CTuxedo\u201D (1983), a large-scaled editioned piece of 10, executed in silkscreen on canvas and comprising a lexicon of the artist\u2019s favorite words and anatomy classifications, sold for a jumbo priced \u00A3724,450 ($1.1 million) (est. \u00A3 250-350,000).Although Sotheby\u2019s had no true blockbuster to match the luscious Francis Bacon nude that sold for $33.4 million at Christie\u2019s Tuesday evening&amp;nbsp;\u2014&amp;nbsp;the most expensive trophy so far this season \u2014 it did offer an early and quirky example. Bacon's \u201CFigure with Monkey\u201D (1951), a small-scaled work by the artist's standards at 26 by 22 inches, featuring a man seemingly trying to feed a rather ferocious monkey through the grill of a zoo fence, sold to a sole telephone bidder for \u00A31.8 million ($2.9 million) (est. \u00A31.8-2.5 million).&amp;nbsp;Though the Bacon was more curiosity than masterpiece, it still did better than a small group of Lucian Freud drawings from a single, anonymous owner.Of the six Freuds, the jowly close-up of \u201CLord Goodman,\u201D the artist\u2019s one-time solicitor, in charcoal on paper from 1985 sold to London dealer Matthew Green of the Richard Green Gallery for a toppy \u00A3735,650 ($1.2 million) (est. \u00A3400-600,000).&amp;nbsp;A charcoal-and-crayon \u201CHead of Success II\u201D (1983), depicting a bridled racehorse, sold to Acquavella Galleries, the late artist\u2019s dealer, for \u00A3253,250 ($398,058) (est. \u00A3100-150,000).&amp;nbsp;\u201CThe Freud market remains very strong,\u201D said Saville Row dealer Pilar Ordovas, who underbid Freud\u2019s Lord Goodman,  but it\u2019s selective for quality, which is a healthy sign.\u201DThe evening finale takes place at Phillips de Pury on Thursday.To see a selection of lots from Sotheby's London's contemporary sale, click on the slide show.[content:advertisement-center]"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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