Contemporary art auction 'raises £54.1m'

The most recent contemporary art auction at Sotheby's has brought in a total of £54.1 million, which could inspire people to put any paintings they own through appraisal in the near future.

According to the auction house, this makes the sale the second highest total brought in through an auction of this kind in any February.

Among the artworks on sale were Yves Klein's 1961 F88 - a wood and paper construction involving imprints of fire, body and water, which went for £3,289,250 following a pre-sale estimate of it receiving between £2.8 and £3.5 million.

Oliver Barker, senior director and senior international specialist in contemporary art at Sotheby's, reported that the middle-market level, which is usually a bellwether for the industry, performed "well in excess" of what was expected.

He said: "We've witnessed this evening that there's an intelligent marketplace which is keen to buy the very best of its type from masterworks at the very top end of the market ? [to] the middle-market level."

Sotheby's recently announced that it will be holding an auction of contemporary Asian art on April 5th.