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Christie's  Post-War and Contemporary Art evening sale held on May 15, 2013 in New York achieved a staggering 495,021,500 million USD (386,116,770 euros), the highest total in auction history, with a remarkably strong sell-through rate of 94% by value and by lot.

Bidders from around the world competed for an exceptional array of Abstract Expressionist, Pop and Contemporary works from some of the century's most inspiring and influential artists, including  Jackson Pollock, Roy Lichtenstein and Jean-Michel Basquiat.

The sale, which featured a range of superlative works from distinguished private collections and institutions, such as the Collection of Celeste and Armand Bartos and the Estate of Andy Williams, established 16 new world auction records, selling 9 works for over $10 million, 23 for over $5 million and 59 for over $1 million. 

The important grouping of Abstract Expressionist works led the sale, most of all the iconic Number 19, 1948 by Jackson Pollock, which sold for  58,363,750 USD  (45,523,725 euros), the highest price ever fetched for the artist at auction.

Painted during Pollock's most important period of 1947-1949, this jewel-like work was singled out by  Clement Greenberg  who  declared,  ―Number Nineteen seemed more than enough to justify the claim that Pollock is one of the major painters of our time.‖ This picture, which came from a prestigious American foundation, was the object of a fierce bidding battle from collectors in the   saleroom   and on the telephone.

Mark Rothko's  Untitled  (Black on Maroon) of 1958, a dazzling example  of  the artist's  signature  color  fields, and was  painted the year he  began his iconic Seagram  Murals. sold for 27,003,750 USD (21,062,925 USD), such sale demonstrating Rothko's enduring and consistent value. 

Paintings by  Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol  reaffirmed their enduring value this season. Lichtenstein's 1963 Woman with Flowered Hat, a classic Pop picture from the movement's heyday, sold for 56,123,750 USD (43,776,525USD ), while the artist's 1994 Nude with Yellow Flower, which triumphantly revisits his iconic comic book heroine,  sold for 23,643,750 USD (18,442,125 euros).

Also sought-after was Warhol's archetypal Self Portrait of 1966, which realized 5,219,750 USD (4,071,405 euros).

The international demand for works by contemporary artists was extremely strong; especially the highly- anticipated Dustheads  by Jean-Michel Basquiat. This euphoric masterpiece captures the expressionist zeitgeist of the 1980s in New York. The price, which  skyrocketed  to 48,843,750 USD (38,098,125 euros) -a  new world auction record for the artist-  defeated  the 26.4 million USD  achieved  by Christie's in November  2012. Another work by Basquiat,  Furious man, a work on paper from the Andy Williams Collection, exceeded the artist's record for the medium when it sold for 5,723,750 USD ( 4,464,525 euros),after lengthy competitive bidding.

Additional contemporary highlights included a large painting by Julie Mehretu, which performed particularly well, realizing 4,603,750 USD (3,590,925 euros) - a record for the artist.

Ruth Asawa's awe-inspiring Untitled (S.108),  from the artist's family,  fetched  1,443,750 USD ( 1,126,125 euros) -the highest price ever realized for the artist at auction. The sale coincides with Christie's private exhibition for the artist, -Ruth Asawa: Objects and Apparitions- which runs until May 31, 2013.

Strong prices were realized for works by European master painters, notably Piero Manzoni's Achrome, an outstanding masterpiece that epitomizes the Italian artist's best known series. It sold for a world auction record price of 14,123,750 USD (11,016,525 euros) to a European    collector.

Gerhard Richter'svibrant Abstraktes Bild, Dunkel (613 -2) also sold well, fetching 21,963,750 USD (17,131,725 euros), which exceeded its high estimate.  

Richard Serra's monumental L.A. Cone from the  Estate of David Pincus realized a record price for the artist at  auction with  4,267,750 USD  (3,328,845 euros), while Robert Rauschenberg's early collage   from   the  Collection of Susan Weil, the artist's former wife,  achieved  963,750 USD  (751,725 euros). Adolph  Gottlieb's large-scale Balance sold for 3,259,750 USD ( 2,542,605 USD), and derived from the Robert B. Mayer Family Collection, named for the Chicago arts patron who founded the Contemporary Museum of Art in Chicago, while Richard Diebenkorn's Ingleside  sold for 1,443,750 USD (1,126,125 euros) came  from the equally  prestigious  patrons  Laughlin   and   Jennifer  Phillips  of   the   Phillips  Museum. The esteemed  Estate of Andy Williams and  the Celeste and Armand Bartos  Collection  both  offered eight major works of art that sold for $46 million and $30.2 million, respectively.

Internationally-known for his singing career, Andy Williams was also an exceptional connoisseur of modern and contemporary art. From his distinguished estate, all works offered sold far above their high estimates. Some highlights included Edward Ruscha's Mint and Willem de Kooning's masterpiece Untitled XVII, as well as Basquiat's aforementioned Furious man.

ARTIST WORLD AUCTION RECORDS

Lot 10

Jean-Michel Basquiat, Dustheads, acrylic, oilstick, spray enamel and metallic paint on canvas, 1982 Estimate: $25,000,000 - $35,000,000  Price realized: $48,843,750

Lot 12

Luc Tuymans, Rumour, oil on canvas, 2001 Estimate: $1,400,000 – $1,800,000 Price realized: $2,699,750

Lot 18

Jackson Pollock, Number 19, 1948, oil and enamel on paper mounted on canvas, 1948 Estimate: $25,000,000 – $35,000,000 Price realized: $58,363,750

Lot 19

Joseph Cornell, Magic Soap Bubble Set, wood box construction--wood, glass, printed paper, paint, seashells, velvet, clay pipes, rubber bands, nails, 1940 Estimate: $500,000 – $700,000

Price realized: $4,827,750

Lot 20

Hans Hofmann, Beatae Memoriae, oil on canvas, 1964 Estimate: $2,000,000 – $3,000,000  Price realized: $4,827,750

Lot 23

Philip Guston, To Fellini, oil on canvas, 1958 Estimate: $8,000,000 – $12,000,000  Price realized: $25,883,750

Lot 26

Kenneth Noland, Circle, acrylic on canvas, 1958 Estimate: $900,000 – $1,200,000  Price realized: $2,139,750

Lot 34

Roy Lichtenstein, Woman with Flowered Hat, Magna on canvas, 1963  Estimate: In the Region of $30,000,000  Price realized: $56,123,750

Lot 52

Julie Mehretu, Retopistics: A Renegade Excavation, ink and acrylic on canvas, 2001  Estimate: $1,400,000 – $1,800,000  Price realized: $4,603,750

Lot 54

Richard Serra, L.A. Cone, COR-TEN steel, 1986  Estimate: $1,500,000 – $2,000,000 Price realized: $4,267,750

Lot 58

Ruth Asawa, Untitled (S.108 Hanging, Six-Lobed, Multi-Layered Continuous Form Within a Form), hanging sculpture--copper and brass wire, circa late 1960s  Estimate: $250,000 – $350,000  Price realized: $1,443,750

Lot 61

Piero Manzoni, Achrome , kaolin on canvas, 1958  Estimate: $6,000,000 – $9,000,000  Price realized: $14,123,750

RECORDS FOR THE MEDIUM

Lot 2

Urs Fischer, Pinky, milled aluminum panel, acrylic primer, gesso, acrylic ink, silkscreen medium, acrylic paint, acrylic  polymer clear coat, 2010  Estimate: $400,000 - $600,000Price realized: $1,203,750

Lot 6

Jean-Michel Basquiat, Furious Man, oil stick, acrylic, wax crayon and ink on paper, 1982 Estimate: $1,000,000 - $1,500,000  Price realized: $5,723,750

Lot 11

Bruce Nauman, Marching Figure, color pencil, graphite, gouache and watercolor on two joined sheets of paper, 1985 Estimate: $400,000 - $600,000  Price realized: $1,443,750

Lot 33