American Art Delivers at Christie's

Buyers set two records at Christie's sale of American paintings Wednesday, a clear sign that global interest in American works of art continues to grow. The $72.6 million in combined sales of 111 lots makes yesterday's auction a record for an American art sale at Christie's.

The Midtown auction saw a new record set for any American Modernist painting sold at public auction. Marsden Hartley's "Lighthouse" fetched $6.13 million after a highly anticipated sale. The painting was recently rediscovered in eastern Germany after more than a half century in storage, and was returned to a descendant of its original owner.

Georgia O'Keeffe's "Calla lilies with red anemone" had held the previous American Modernist record since 2001, when it sold for $6.17 million.

The auction also set a record for Western American art, a category with $41.47 million in combined sales. Thomas Moran's sweeping Western landscape "Green River of Wyoming," which had an estimate of between $3.5 million and $5 million, sold for $17.74 million, a price more than double the old record for a 19th-century American painting sold at public auction.

Avery Galleries of Bryn Mawr, Pa., was the buyer. The previous record was the $8.8 million paid for a John Singer Sargent portrait in 2004.

Albert Bierstadt's "Indians Spear Fishing" sold for $7.32 million. It had an auction estimate of between $2.5 million and $3.5 million. Childe Hassam's "Spring in Central Park," with a presale estimate of between $2.5 million and $3.5 million, fetched $5.54 million.