High-quality postwar art pushed last night’s sale of postwar and contemporary art at Christie’s to record highs. Buoyed by 13 near-impeccable midcentury lots being sold by New York collectors Barbara and Donald Jonas to benefit the Jewish Communal Fund, the sale hit $133.7 million, far surpassing the world record of $102 million for an evening sale of contemporary art, which was set at Christie’s last spring.

The salesroom was packed and energized for the first two-thirds of the 76 lots, of which 65, or 86%, sold. A total of 17 records were set for works by individual artists sold at auction, including Isamu Noguchi, Edward Hopper, and James Rosenquist.

“It was different from last night,” said David Nash, director of Manhattan gallery Mitchell-Innes and Nash. Sotheby’s sale of contemporary art the night before earned only $68 million. “There seemed to be more electricity in the room,” Mr. Nash said. “I think it had to do with the selection of material and the JCF material was certainly the draw of the sale.”

In all, the works from the Jonas collection brought in $44.2 million. Willem de Kooning’s “Sail Cloth” (1949), from the JCF group, was the star of the show, selling for $13.1 million. Its sale made for great theater, as Manhattan dealer Robert Mnuchin competed with Christie’s international co-director of postwar and contemporary art, Laura Paulson, bidding on behalf of someone on the phone. They drove the price up in $100,000 increments over the course of several minutes.

Ms. Paulson made aggressive moves on behalf of her client, jumping by $200,000 twice. “It’s unorthodox,” noted Christie’s auctioneer and honorary chairman Christopher Burge, “but we’re getting there.” De Kooning painted “Sail Cloth’s” sinuous flesh-colored shapes while in Provincetown, Mass., one summer, working through his wavering commitment to pure abstraction.

The night clearly belonged to the New York School artists rather than the more recent upstarts. Another highlight from the JCF group was the sale of Franz Kline’s “Crow Dancer” (1958) to dealer Larry Gagosian for $6.4 million, a record for a work by the artist sold at auction.

Mr. Gagosian also bought Arshile Gorky’s graphite and crayon “Composition II” (1943) for $2.8 million, a record for a work on paper by the artist sold at auction. He later picked up Jasper Johns’s work on paper, “Winter” (1986), for $2 million and the Johns sculpture, “The Critic Sees” (1961), for $3.9 million.

Two rare Joseph Cornell Medici boxes sold to a single buyer. “Untitled (Medici Princess)” (c. 1952) established an auction record for the artist of $2.6 million. Mark Rothko’s painting “Untitled” (1964), with three inky clouds on a mauve background, went for $10 million to a phone buyer.

Philip Guston’s “The Street” (1956), a large, abstract painting dominated by a red-and-pink cluster of brushstrokes at the center, also set an artist’s record, selling for $7.2 million, more than $5 million more than his previous mark. After the room bidders – including dealer Jeffrey Deitch – dropped out, three Christie’s specialists bidding for phone clients drove the price upward. At $6.5 million, Ms. Paulson’s co-director, Amy Cappellazzo, put in a sudden, last-minute bid for a client. But Mr. Burge’s hammer had fallen, and the painting went to Ms. Paulson’s bidder.

Art advisor Thea Westreich said the prices for postwar works at the sale did not seem out of bounds. “There’s clearly a lot of money out there to be deployed for great works of art,” she said, adding that it reflected “a better educated buying public – except for in contemporary art, where I thought a lot of foolish, really foolish, decisions are being made.”

Christie’s benefited from the increasing number of postwar and contemporary collectors who are reaching an age when they are divesting themselves of their art. “The first major generation of postwar and contemporary collectors are getting to the stage in life where there are estate-driven properties,” Ms. Cappellazzo said before the sale. In addition to the Jonases, consignors included Francey and Martin Gecht, Ruth and Harvey Kaplan, Helen and David B. Pall, Eugene Stevens, and the estates of Nelson Rockefeller and John Bransten.

One contemporary artist who saw a record set for his work was Luc Tuymans, whose painting “Sculpture” (2000) sold to gallerist David Zwirner for $1.5 million, more than three times the previous record. Mr. Zwirner represents Mr. Tuymans and just had a show of his work. “It’s rare to get a painting of that quality by Tuymans,” he said. “I’m glad I got it, but I wish it would’ve been cheaper.” Records at auction were also set for Elizabeth Peyton and Richard Prince, each of whom had a painting sell for $800,000, as well as for Peter Doig.

Works by other recent auction favorites faltered. Two Maurizio Cattelan sculptures estimated to go for well more than $1 million were bought in, as were individual works by Warhol, Basquiat, Keith Haring, and Felix Gonzalez-Torres. Warhol’s huge “Flowers” (1965) did sell for $7.9 million, without much competition, to Susan Dunne, vice president of PaceWildenstein, who said she was bidding for a buyer other than the gallery.

The bulk of the crowd filtered out after the sale of Sigmar Polke’s “Capitalist Realist” painting “Bavarian” (1965) to Mr. Deitch for $1.7 million. It was the 53rd lot. Late in the sale stalwart observers saw a new record set for a work by Japanese conceptual artist Yayoi Kusama, when her inventive eggcrate painting, “No. B, 3” (1962), sold for $1.2 million – almost four times its high estimate.

Edward Hopper’s “Chair Car” (1965) took in the most money for the house, selling for $14 million and setting a record for a work by the artist sold at auction. In the collection of Helen and David B. Pall since the year it was painted, it was one of the last major Hoppers in private hands. But bidding for the sun-streaked scene of disaffected travelers was lackluster. When Mr. Burge hammered down, a Christie’s representative shouted out the name of the winner, Berry Hill Galleries.

“It was exuberant,” said art consultant Kim Heirston of the sale. “It’s almost entertainment. I loved the way the Hopper was announced as Berry Hill. They could have said ‘1-800-Berry Hill.’ And my highlight was the three divas going for the Guston.”

Phillips de Pury & Co.’s Contemporary art sale wraps up the week tonight.