A storm of fierce bidding whipped through the Christie’s salesroom last night as buyers spent $128.2 million on 58 Impressionist and Modern artworks. The sale fared better than most dealers had expected, given the uneven quality of the works on offer and supposed pickiness of today’s most active collectors.

The result confirmed that the art market bubble has definitely not burst. Indeed, the market appears more robust than ever. And it set high hopes for the Sotheby’s sale tonight – when works estimated at $203-275 million will take their turn on the stage, including a handful of $20-50 million pictures.

Art from all schools – from the brushy Monets to the zaftig Renoir nudes – elicited strong interest at Christie’s. Just above 80% of lots sold, with only the real dregs failing to elicit interest. An early Monet sank fast, as did a late Picasso. But nearly everything else was snapped right up – good, bad, and ugly.

“It’s a new rule under Bush,” said dealer Henry Zimet of French & Co. “There are no more BIs,” using trade slang for “bought in” – work that didn’t sell.

Indeed, the streams of dealers and collectors heading toward the exit after the sale seemed genuinely surprised at just how strong sale results were. Works expected to have trouble against aggressive estimates did just fine. While Christopher Burge, Christie’s lead auctioneer, said he didn’t think the election played a factor, some thought otherwise.

“It was a surprise because I thought some estimates were really aggressive,” said dealer Andrea Crane of Jan Krugier Gallery. “Maybe the resolution of the election had something to do with it. People were finally able to take a breath and realize everything will be fine. “At least half of the top 10 works were bought by American private collectors, who were buyers 62% of the time last night. Europeans made up 28% of buyers.

The sale included two paintings that provided once-in-a-lifetime chances to own a Modern masterpiece with impeccable provenance. Collectors and dealers prefer material fresh from a private home: The longer something has been hidden from view, the better.

So there was fierce bidding for the Monet view of England’s Parliament reportedly consigned by decedents of one of the artist’s dealers, Durand-Ruel. The work had remained in the Durand-Ruel family for the past 100 years. The same held true for the Miro painting that graced the catalog’s cover, which longtime owner Nathan Halpern refused to lend for exhibitions; it was virtually unknown and unpublished.

Ultimately the top lot was the Impressionist classic, “Londres, le Parlement, effet de soleil dans le brouillard” (1904) by Claude Monet. A purple haze worthy of Jimi Hendrix, it shot over the $12-18 million estimate, selling for $20.2 million. Three bidders vied for the Monet, two on the phone, and one in the room. A private collector in the room hung in the longest and was rewarded with a masterpiece and a little round of applause.

From 1899 to 1904 Monet painted some 95 views – he was a fast worker – of the river Thames. His London pictures were exhibited in 1904 at Paris by Durand-Ruel, who bought nine of the best, priced at 20,000 francs, before the show even opened; he later flipped them to major collectors and museums. Monet kept one for his own collection and traded another for a car.

The Miro, “La caresse des etoiles” (1938), sold for $11.8 million, the second highest price ever paid at auction for a work by the artist and almost double its low estimate. In total, works once owned by Halpern collection brought in $25.2 million.

Following World War II, Halpern was stationed in Paris, where he sought out artists and dealers. Along with an artist friend, Halpern drove a jeep into the French countryside to meet Picasso, later netting a gouache from the artist, which sold for $847,500 last night. It was during this time that he traded his overcoat to dealer Pierre Loeb for the Miro.

Halpern, who died in April at age 90, was an active player in the city’s cultural and philanthropic institutions. A lifetime trustee of the Central Park Conservancy, he served as president of the International Center for Photography and was a founding member of the East Hampton Beach Preservation Society. He filled his apartment with works by Picasso, Matisse, and Degas. Bidders fought fiercely to bring home something from the estate.

One of the more disappointing sales included an 1888 van Gogh painting of a bridge, “Le pont de Trinquetaille” with an acid green sky and river. This painting, which had the second-highest estimate going into the sale, was bought by a European private collector for $11.2 million. The consignor had bought it at Christie’s in 1999 for $15.4 million, so he took a loss. Mr. Burge said after the sale that since it had been on the market relatively recently “We knew that’s where it was going to go.”

Other less-than-inspiring lots were a large, acid-yellow late Picasso, which fetched $7.2 million – really nothing more than a status purchase. In addition, a jolly bouquet of flowers against a blue background by Picasso, “Vase de Fleurs,” painted in 1904, failed to sell. The estimate was $3-4 million. People like Picasso’s blue-period pictures a bit bluer, apparently.