A $90 Million Night

Sotheby's Contemporary Art auction in London brought in $90,224,000 in sales yesterday evening.

"White Canoe" (1990/91), by the Scottish-born painter Peter Doig, sold for $11,300,000, including the buyer's commission. The high estimate before the auction, not including commission, had been $2,370,000. "White Canoe," a monumental-sized 79-inch by 94-7/8 inch canvas, was inspired by a still from the 1980 horror film "Friday the 13th," just before the character of Jason rises out of the lake to attack the last survivor of his killing spree.

"Abstraktes Bild" (1991), by Gerhard Richter, went for nearly $5,560,000, including the buyer's premium, the second highest sale of the evening. Before the auction, the high estimate, not including commission, had been $3,550,000. Mr. Richter has exhibited various styles in more than four decades of painting, from the figurative to the abstract. "Abstraktes Bild" is a 78-3/4 inch by 78-3/4 inch canvas layered in a variety of predominately red and orange sweeps of impasto.

Other works sold last night included paintings by Damien Hirst, Francis Bacon, Frank Auerbach, Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Joseph Albers, and Yves Klein. Roy Lichtenstein's "Still Life with Oyster, Fish in a Bowl and Book" sold for $5,339,000, including the buyer's premium. The high estimate before the auction had been $5,920,000, without the commission.

Sotheby's and Christie's recently raised their commissions to 20% on the first $500,000 of hammer price and 12% thereafter.