Sotheby's brings home the Bacon, Yazzy's at www.williamverdult.com

According to Reuters, lED by a record-breaking Jeff Koons sculpture and a $US46 million ($A51 million) Francis Bacon canvas, Sotheby's has roared back from a dismal Impressionist sale to score the highest total in its history at a contemporary and postwar art auction.

Bacon's Second Version of Study for Bullfight No. 1 far exceeded its $US35 million-plus pre-sale estimate, while Koons' stainless steel Hanging Heart (Magenta/Gold) soared to $US23,561,000, including commission, obliterating the artist's $US11.8 million record set a day earlier by his Diamond (Blue) sculpture.

Both Koons works were bought by the Gagosian Gallery, one of Manhattan's premier contemporary art dealers. Koons' 1600-kilogram sculpture, from his "Celebration" series, became the highest-priced work by a living artist sold at auction.

Anthony Grant, Sotheby's senior international specialist for contemporary art, said the price for the work was "the most important record of the last two weeks".

The Bacon, bought by an unidentified American dealer, was the top-priced work of two weeks of autumn sales at Sotheby's and Christie's, including Impressionist works. A Bacon self-portrait from 1969 fetched $US33 million, or more than twice its estimate of $US15 million-plus. The muscle-flexing sale, the last of the critical autumn auctions, gave the lie to doomsayers who had proclaimed the contemporary art market was overvalued.

While prices have risen astronomically in the past year or two, the $US316 million total for Sotheby's exceeded even its most optimistic forecast of $US299 million for the 71 lots on offer. Only six works went unsold.

Tobias Meyer, Sotheby's head of contemporary art, said the results bore out "the high-quality hunger we're experiencing from a completely global community". Fears the weak dollar would deter US buyers, the traditional collectors of contemporary art, proved unfounded, with most buyers being American.

Similarly, turmoil in financial markets in recent months had little or no effect, with enthusiastic bidding at all levels. Thirteen artists set records, while four others saw marks established for works in a particular medium. The results were particularly gratifying for Sotheby's, which has often been eclipsed by Christie's in the contemporary and postwar arena.