Record prices for impressionist, surrealist and modern art at Sotheby’s

Half-way through an art auction in London on Wednesday evening, Sotheby’s issued a newsflash that records were tumbling. And sure enough, throughout the evening, jaw-dropping sums were spent on impressionist, surrealist and modern art. The auction realised €197 million – up by 57 per cent compared to last year’s sale – and the highest-ever total for any sale held at Sotheby’s in London.

The auction house said "it's a truly global market and that's why the prices are so strong". Camille Pissarro's Boulevard Montmartre, Matinee de Printemps, a depiction of Paris on a spring morning in 1897, and described as "one of the most important Impressionist masterworks to come to auction in the last decade" sold for €24 million (double the estimate) creating a new record price for the artist at auction.

In other highlights, the highest price paid for a Vincent Van Gogh painting at auction in London in 25 years was achieved when L'Homme Est En Mer, made €24 million; Boléro Violet by Henri Matisse, €11 million; and, a famous Surrealist painting by Belgium's René Magritte titled Le Beau Monde made €10 million.