On November 30, in an overflowing salesroom at Sotheby’s, a sale of American paintings, drawings and sculpture brought a total of $62,979,600, including a group of historical paintings, portraits and sculpture sold on behalf of The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations. A record was set for an American portrait at auction when Gilbert Stuart’s “Portrait of George Washington (The Constable-Hamilton Portrait),” sold to anonymous bidder for $8,136,000, also a record for the artist at auction.

Dara Mitchell and Peter Rathbone of Sotheby’s American paintings, drawings and sculpture department, said, “The sale was the third highest total for a sale of American paintings at auction. Records were set for major artists, such as Gilbert Stuart, Grant Wood, Stuart Davis, John Singleton Copley, Guy Rose, Charles Prendergast and Samuel F.B. Morse, among others.”

Grant Wood, “Spring Plowing,” $6.96 million, record for the artist at auction.

The work by Stuart was commissioned as a gift for AlexanderHamilton by New York merchant and landowner William KerinConstable. The Revolutionary War hero and chief executive is shownhalf-length, seated and wearing a black velvet suit, in his handsis a document bearing his signature and a sword rests across hislap. This portrait was painted in Philadelphia in 1797 duringWashington’s final year in office and depicts the president’scommanding stature. The seascape is unprecedented in Stuart’sportraits of Washington and refers to Hamilton’s politicalaccomplishments regarding trade and commerce during his term assecretary of the treasury and his role in creating the US Navy.

Stuart Davis, “Rue de l’Échaudé,” $4,496,000, record for the artist at auction.

The portrait descended in Hamilton’s family until 1896, whenHamilton’s grandson, a trustee of the Astor Library, willed it tothe institution. A marble bust of Alexander Hamilton by GuiseppeCeracchi accompanied the sale of this portrait, as it accompaniedthe original bequest by Hamilton’s descendants to the AstorLibrary.

Another record for an artist at auction was established when a portrait by John Singleton Copley, America’s preeminent portraitist of the Eighteenth Century, titled “Mrs Theodore Atkinson, Jr (Francis Deering Wentworth),” sold for $3,376,000 to an anonymous bidder. Painted in 1765, the work depicts an elegant young woman seated at a table playing with a pet squirrel on a chain. The motif of the squirrel, used by Copley in a portrait of his half-brother, Henry Pelham, painted in the same year, won Copley acclaim when it was exhibited at the Society of Artists in London.

John Singer Sargent, “The Rialto,” $3,712,000.

Thought to be one of the artist’s most beautiful Americansubjects, Mrs Atkinson is depicted at age 19 opulently dressed infolds of satin and velvet. The portrait embodies the socialsophistication and fashionable elegance to which many of Copley’ssitters aspired, but also presents an astute portrayal of a youngwoman in full command of her obvious charms.

Grant Wood’s iconic “Spring Plowing,” the most important work by Wood to ever appear at auction, sold for $6.96 million. Painted in 1932, the painting depicts emerald green hills, neatly trimmed tracts of land and bright blue sky, which are emblematic of the distinctive agrarian vision that defined Wood’s mature regionalist style.

John Singleton Copley, “Mrs Theodore Atkinson, Jr (Francis Deering Wentworth),” $3,376,000, record for the artist at auction.

Stuart Davis’ “Rue de l’Échaudé,” an oil on canvas painted in1928, commanded $4,496,000, almost three times its high presaleestimate. Offered from the collection of Josephine and Walter BuhlFord II, this work was created by Davis during his yearlongexcursion to Paris sponsored by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney and herassociate Juliana Force.

John Singer Sargent’s “The Rialto,” an oil on canvas painted circa 1909, brought $3,712,000. The artist chose an unusual angle from which to depict the Rialto bridge, orienting the viewer’s perspective from below the Venetian landmark as if from a passing gondola.

A double-sided, three-panel screen by Charles Prendergast from the estate of Laurance S. Rockefeller, titled “Figures in a Landscape and Figures with Animals, Birds and Trees,” fetched $1,584,000, more than twice the high estimate. Executed circa 1928-1932, it is one of only three known three-panel screens by the artist.

Prices reported include buyer’s premium, which is 20 percent of the hammer price on the first $200,000, and 12 percent thereafter. For information, 212-606-7000 or www.sothebys.com.