LONDON, Feb 8 — Christie’s yesterday kicked off a fortnight of major London art sales with a bang, hitting or exceeding the most optimistic pre-sale expectations and extending 2011’s record-breaking run into the new year.

At its impressionist and modern evening sale, the world’s largest auctioneer sold works worth £97.8 million (RM464.5 million) — towards the top end of estimates.

The Art of the Surreal auction raised an additional £37.2 million, well above the valuation range of £19.6-29.1 million, although the total included buyers’ premiums whereas pre-sale estimates did not.

According to preliminary figures, Christie’s overall sold art worth £135.0 million, topping the high estimate of £127.1 million as the London art world enters a two-week period of auctions that are off to a strong start.

British sculptor Henry Moore was the night’s top lot. His “Reclining Figure: Festival” soared to £19.1 million compared with pre-sale estimates of £3.5-5.5 million. Christie’s said it was an auction record for the artist.

In the surreal section, Christie’s also smashed the auction record for Spanish painter Joan Miro when “Painting-Poem” went for £16.8 million, double its estimate.

Vincent Van Gogh’s “Vue de l’asile et de la Chapelle de Saint-Remy”, from the collection of the late Hollywood actress Elizabeth Taylor, raised £10.1 million versus expectations of £5.0-7.0 million.

“As the crown jewel of her art collection, we are delighted with the price achieved for Van Gogh’s ‘Vue de l’asile’, a profoundly beautiful work from one of creative high points of the artist’s career,” Marc Porter, chairman of Christie’s Americas, said in a statement.

Juan Gris’ “Le livre” went under the hammer for £10.3 million, just short of the low estimate of £12 million.

The strong night launches Christie’s into the new year on a positive note after it posted record revenues of £3.6 billion in 2011, an increase of 9 per cent from 2010. Those figures underlined the ongoing strength of the “blue chip” art market that concentrates on top artists and rare works.

Emerging collectors from mainland China have been a driving force, and experts also believe investors are considering art as an alternative to stocks, bonds and currencies given the strength of the market in the past two years.

Rival Sotheby’s holds its equivalent auction tomorrow evening, and the two companies stage a second series of post-war and contemporary sales the following week.

Combined, the auctioneers are offering art worth in excess of £500 million. — Reuters